Longueteau: artist Shuck One inaugurates the new collection La Galerie

5 June 2024 | Interviews & Meetings
Longueteau: artist Shuck One inaugurates the new collection La Galerie

The Longueteau House presented in April in Guadeloupe its new collection of rum called The Gallery. This collection will see collaboration between Longueteau rums and Guadeloupean artists. The first batch of this collection was co-created with the artist Shuck One, whom we met twice in his workshop in Choisy-le-Roi.

An Artist

Shuck One discovered graffiti in the late 1970s, early 1980s in Pointe-à-Pitre. His first encounter was in the activist and independence movement in Guadeloupe. He realized the power of words. He studied the history of Guadeloupe, the Caribbean, and Africa and gained awareness of the world. At 14, he arrived in Paris and witnessed the early days of Hip Hop. He changed his style, adapted to Parisian urban life, and then discovered tags in the subway. He connected the protest graffiti in Pointe-à-Pitre with the urban expression in Paris. Graffiti became the artistic expression of Hip Hop.

Shuck One's artist studio
Shuck One's artist studio
Shuck One's artist workshop
Shuck One's artist workshop
Shuck One unveils the cases of the Longueteau La Galerie vintage.
Shuck One unveils the cases of the Longueteau La Galerie vintage.

The young man practices graffiti on metro lines 2, 9, and 13. An empty lot in the Stalingrad neighborhood becomes the meeting place for graffiti artists. A group is formed, DCM. Then in 1990-1991, the group "Basalte" takes over to become a Parisian and then European reference. The Americans come to Paris. In 1991, the world's first graffiti exhibition is held at the Palais de Chaillot. 10 American artists and 10 French artists. They move from the wall to the canvas, gaining full recognition. This era was characterized as much by the origin of graffiti, born from the street, as by the rivalry that drove the graffiti groups. Basalte later organizes the exhibition "Voyage en créolie" in collaboration with other artists like Telemaque, Guédon, Duval Carrié, or Rovelas.


Then the members of Basalte break away after experiencing the golden age of the 1990s. Shuck One introduces new topics, like the environment, while wanting to keep "the human at the center of his gesture," as he says. The State acquires the first works of Shuck One. One of the most emblematic ones is displayed at Memorial Act in Pointe-à-Pitre. He currently exhibits worldwide.

Shuck One at work
Shuck One at work
Shuck One hard at work
Shuck One hard at work
Conversation with Shuck One
Conversation with Shuck One

Some Rum

For Shuck One, rum is above all "a period in the history of the Creole world". "Rum is a liquid at first abject, harsh, but that pacified two worlds". In two centuries "we go from the abominable to sweetening, like sugar in rum". Rum is also for him a vision of the Caribbean through the fight for dignity that has taken place in the sugarcane fields. The pains converge towards the same story. He perceives rum, sugarcane, sugar in a global movement. The wind circulates through the sugarcane. But humans, in running, also create a path through the sugarcane. It is at 6 years old that young Shuck comes into contact with rum. His grandmother, while his baby teeth grow, rubs his gums with rum to calm the pain. In adolescence, it's the age when you steal sips of alcohol thinking you're being discreet. You discover the names, the labels. Then he returns to rum as a man, "rum becomes a magical liquid". Shuck loves the taste of sugarcane. "In a white rum, the world unravels. It's outrageously violent and captivating".

Longueteau, The Gallery, by Shuck One
Longueteau, The Gallery, by Shuck One
Shuck One presenting the Longueteau La Galerie blend.
Shuck One presenting the Longueteau La Galerie blend.
Shuck One removes the cases of the Longueteau La Galerie vintage.
Shuck One removes the cases of the Longueteau La Galerie vintage.
An artistic collaboration

It's Jean Baptiste Geoffroy, a collaborator of Maison Longueteau, who connects Shuck One and François Longueteau for this first edition of the La Galerie series aiming to celebrate Guadeloupean excellences in rum and art. It all started about three years ago during a meeting in Paris. The guys chat, discuss the project, get along well, they're excited. Then later, there's a visit to the estate, the cellars, meeting the people. Shuck has to design the label and case for a special edition. He observes, listens, gets inspired.

This edition of the La Galerie series is made from white and aged rum. Shuck One feels like he's contributing to the creation of an original edition, "a rum that stands out." He aims to capture the difference in character between white and aged rum in his creation, translating the taste, texture, and length. The packaging is no longer just a showcase; it becomes the artistic interpretation of the edition, an aromatic range in a different language.

Alexandre Beudet, Shuck One, and Matthieu Lange
Alexandre Beudet, Shuck One, and Matthieu Lange
Shuck One's artist workshop
Shuck One's artist workshop
Shuck One selects the cases of Longueteau La Galerie vintage
Shuck One selects the cases of Longueteau La Galerie vintage

When asked what makes Shuck One special, the artist talks about the wide and deep range of colors, the world of symbols, the abstract, and organic elements. It's all part of Shuck One. From our perspective, the artist has successfully blended into the Longueteau universe while maintaining their unique style. The graffiti representation of various shades of amber is particularly striking. One can easily imagine this creation as a graphic extension of the Constellation or more recent 29 Février rum editions. It's truly the balance of rum styles and multiple inspirations that make this edition a work of art in its own right.

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Written by

Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor