TÍO PEPE, FROM JEREZ TO THE WORLD: STORY OF AN ICON

Between March 16 and April 16, the “Tío Pepe Art Room” at the González Byass winery, in Jerez de la Frontera, will host the exhibition “Tío Pepe, from Jerez to the world: story of an icon” organized by the González Byass Foundation.   The exhibition will allow visitors to travel through an advertising history that is interlinked with the arts, sport and music.

Documents, images and paintings, preserved by the González Byass Historical Archive, will show Tio Pepe from its early days as one of the oldest brands in Spain to the world-renowned Fino it is today.

"Tío Pepe from Jerez to the World: story of an icon"

The prestigious Tío Pepe brand, from Bodegas González Byass, is one of the oldest in Spain and the famous image of the dressed bottle is a well-known icon across the country.  Perhaps not so well known is the fact that Tío Pepe is not only an iconic Fino brand, but was also a real person. The eponymous Fino was created in the nineteenth century by the uncle of the founder of González Byass, who was called José María Ángel y Vargas but affectionately known as Pepe. Today we see the Tio Pepe icon on Spanish roads, on the neon sign of the Puerta del Sol in Madrid and in culinary, art, cultural and sporting events. 

It is the three dimensions of Tío Pepe -  person, fino and icon  - that gives shape to the exhibition.  The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to Tío Pepe as a person, José María Ángel y Vargas, the uncle of the founder of the winery.  The second part shows advertising of the brand through to the beginning of the 20th century and covers the arrival of Luis Pérez Solero who first created the iconic image of the dressed bottle. The final part covers the advertising, artistic, sports, social expressions and representations in which the image of Tío Pepe has been present and which have contributed to its formation as an icon.

The González Byass Foundation is a non-profit organisation driven by the desire to preserve the historical and artistic documents that form the heritage of the company and the González family legacy.