Wisconsin Beer Speaks Up in the Contemporary Art Conversation — Introducing the Kato Candy IPA

The latest collaboration between Sculpture Milwaukee and the Beer Endowment brings the avant garde work of artist Izumi Kato to new audiences through a case of cold ones.

by

Eat/Drink

On November 3, Sculpture Milwaukee announced the release of commemorative brew, Kato Candy IPA: a many-tiered collaboration between the public art non-profit organization, artist Izumi Kato, Milwaukee’s Beer Endowment, and Untitled Art Beverage. The project seeks to emulate and honor Kato’s work, Untitled (2024), in fermented form, connecting new audiences with the contemporary sculptural art conversation while creating a delicious beer in the process.

Executive Director of Sculpture Milwaukee, John Riepenhoff, is passionate about breaking down the barriers between hyper-contemporary art, often highly gatekept, and the everyday person. “It takes a lot to bring somebody into galleries and museums,” he notes. This collaboration is a new iteration of Sculpture Milwaukee’s goal to use public space as an accessible platform for rotating art exhibitions. “There’s something very social about having a beer with somebody, and that aligns with [our] accessibility protocol. It’s an extension of this art to a broader audience. The beer is an invitation to say, ‘if I don’t have the ability to go seek out art in the world, that art is coming to me.’”

Untitled (2024) and Izumi Kato

Kato’s sculptural work, Untitled (2024), stood in Museum Center Park from June 2024 through October 2025. Sculpture Milwaukee’s executive director, John Riepenhoff, describes the totemic piece as a visual anchor of their exhibition route, Actual Fractals, although it was deinstalled last month. The towering sculpture cast a humanoid figure in brilliant colors onto aluminum stone-like shapes, captivating millions of art enthusiasts and passers-by during its tenure.

Kato himself is known to be somewhat of a contemporary pop-artist, having worked on consumables ranging from vinyl records to shampoo bottles. The Kato Candy IPA seems a natural reincarnation of his work, a 16-oz “tall boy” counterpart to the nearly 9-ft sculpture.

The Beer Endowment and Untitled Art

The Beer Endowment is an artist-run program spearheaded by Riepenhoff nearly a decade before his transition to executive director at Sculpture Milwaukee. The program works to promote and fund artists across the globe, strategically harnessing the power of Milwaukee’s long-standing beer culture by connecting them with breweries in the United States and abroad; “People know Milwaukee for beer, motorcycles, and brats. It’s a huge part of our history and a major cultural export. For art to occupy some of that space was important to me as an artist in Milwaukee,” Riepenhoff remarks on the Endowment’s origins.

Selecting a collaborator for a project with the Beer Endowment requires a brewery with “a curiosity for art and an openness to generating cultural information,” Riepenhoff describes. Art and culture are both already core to Untitled Art’s identity as a brewery, so it’s no coincidence that they share a name with the artwork inspiring Kato Candy IPA. The Wisconsin brewery has long showcased the works of contemporary visual artists, photographers and designers, translating their artwork to beer can wraps and packaging or commissioning new designs altogether.

Creating a beer that pairs with and evokes the art it reproduces requires thoughtfulness across the board, from sourcing the hops, to developing a flavor profile, even down to the naming of the brew. Riepenhoff points to the previous (and first) limited-release collaboration between Sculpture Milwaukee and the Beer Endowment as an example: Monumental IPA. Harkening to the literal monumental art installed and supported by Sculpture Milwaukee, it carried a bold flavor and was produced as a straight-forward promotion of the public art organization. The Kato Candy IPA project has utilized the same thoughtfulness in development but seeks to emulate the work of art itself. The brew’s name is a play on Izumi Kato’s identity and position in the contemporary world of pop art, of course as well as a reference to the ubiquitousness of cotton candy. In turn, the flavor profile is “a riff on [the] legendary Cotton Candy IPA, blending hoppy haze and playful sweetness,” describes Untitled Art.

The interconnectedness of the project is what makes Kato Candy IPA unique. While Untitled Art provides a stage for Untitled (2024)’s hoppy analog, the commemorative, limited-release nature of the IPA brings attention to the brewery. Perhaps most importantly, proceeds from the beer’s sales go directly to support Sculpture Milwaukee and its future exhibitions city-wide.

Enjoy the first local pour of Kato Candy IPA at Burnhearts in Bay View on Friday, Nov. 14, accompanied by a live soundtrack by DJs Andy Positive and The Nile, as well as Riepenhoff himself. The launch party runs from 4 p.m. ‘til close —but get there early to order a pint of the IPA for a chance to win free Untitled Art swag. Otherwise, to find Kato Candy IPA near you, use the Untitled Art’s product locator search tool, which will begin updating with new locations soon: drinkuntitled.com/products/kato-candy-ipa