Alien Espresso Cup Set

David Byrne's Artist's Proofs in Spaceship!

The Alien espresso cups set by David Byrne was released in the year 2000. It quickly sold out and has been one of the most sought after illy espresso cup collections. For sale here is a very rare "Artist's Proof" set packaged in a unique spaceship.

Alien Espresso Cups
By David Byrne: $799

Alien espresso Cups by David Byrne
Set of 4 espresso cups, 1 Sugar Bowl and 1 can of Illy Espresso packaged in a Spaceship!

The world was first introduced to David Byrne when he started Talking Heads, the wildly innovative and influential band that left an indelible mark on popular culture. Since then, he has proven that his creativity has few, if any limits. Most recently, Mr. Byrne has been recognized internationally for his work as a visual artist. In addition to being exhibited throughout Europe, Mr. Byrne’s photography has been shown at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

This illy Cup Collection is Out of This World David Byrne Creates ALIEN for illy Artist, filmmaker, musician, composer, David Byrne has designed the newest illycaffè cups collection; ALIEN. Illy Collection is the name given to sets of truly special cups designed to elevate and enhance the illy coffee experience. Since the concept was first introduced in 1992, an international who's who of artists have graced illy cups with their original designs. Americans James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg; Italians Marco Lodola, Sandro Chia and the legendary filmmakers, Federico Fellini and Francis Ford Coppola are among those who have been inspired by illy. Prized by collectors all over the world, the illy collections are signed and numbered.

David Byrne's Alien collection is comprised of a sugar bowl reminiscent of a space ship and 4 espresso cups with a twist—each cup has two handles representing the ears of the aliens. Byrne has illustrated the cups with very amusing and colorful faces of outer space visitors. "Today, we are all Aliens", says the artist, "seeing these small Aliens on the cups, we can recognize parts of ourselves. You only have to look around to see that they are everywhere...on our T-shirts, in night clubs, on skateboards, in movies, on TV, in advertising...We are close to Aliens and they look rather friendly...If you ever wondered what's inside an Alien's head, I can tell you—it's coffee!" Born in Scotland, David Byrne attended the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1975 he formed the Talking Heads (disbanded in 1988). The group made 10 hit albums and won universal recognition for its enormous influence on musical culture. Byrne has always expressed his creativity through more than one medium. While in the Talking Heads, he also composed and directed music for choreographer Twyla Tharp's dance show "The Catherine Wheel". In 1987, Byrne won an Academy Award as co-composer of the soundtrack to Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. Increasingly drawn to cinema, in 1988, Byrne co-wrote and directed the film True Stories.

Even though he found fame as a singer, Byrne was originally a photographer. In 1994, he organized three one-man shows in Belgium, The Netherlands and New York. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art displayed the first permanent installation of "Desire" and the San Francisco Museum of Art also has a David Byrne in its permanent collection. In 1998, in Trieste, Italy, home of illy caffè , the city's culture department and illy organized an exhibition of Byrne's latest artistic research at the Revoltella Museum, entitled "Your Action World". This is David Byrne's second cup collection for illy. His first was a single silver cup produced in very limited quantities in 1998 on the occasion of his exhibit in Trieste. Its shimmering silver surface pays homage to his first passion, photography.