Art & Culture

Four Uncanny Examples of Life Imitating Art

Art, design, and fashion converge in unexpected moments of visual synchronicity, including works by Frida Kahlo and Daniel Buren

By Stefanie Li

August 6, 2021

Left: blue and clear glass chandelier, right: large indoor hall with colorful circular installations on the floor. — Left: The dazzling Galahad Blue chandelier from Currey & Company utilizes layers of recycled and recast glass disks, hand-assembled in a silver-leaf iron frame, to create the mesmerizing effect of light sparkling on water. Right: For Monumenta 2012, contemporary artist Daniel Buren installed Excentrique(s), a multicolored canopy of vibrant lenses, in the Nave of the Grand Palais in Paris. Photo: LEFT: COURTESY OF CURREY & COMPANY. RIGHT: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

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Four Uncanny Examples of Life Imitating Art

Left: The dazzling Galahad Blue chandelier from Currey & Company utilizes layers of recycled and recast glass disks, hand-assembled in a silver-leaf iron frame, to create the mesmerizing effect of light sparkling on water. Right: For Monumenta 2012, contemporary artist Daniel Buren installed Excentrique(s), a multicolored canopy of vibrant lenses, in the Nave of the Grand Palais in Paris.

Photograph by Left: COURTESY OF CURREY & COMPANY. Right: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Left: Channeling the spirit of the West Coast, the Keepall Bandouliu00e8re 50 from Louis Vuittonu2019s summer menu2019s capsule collection, designed by Virgil Abloh, features a wash of pastel shades floating over a reimagining of the classic Louis Vuitton monogram. Right: Using natural elements to make imprints, painter and photographer Sam Falls created his large-scale work Untitled (Hudson, NY, Sumac Tree 2) in 2014 by applying a spectrum of pigments to a raw canvas and then situating a sumac branch on top. When later removed, the image of the leaves remains.

Photograph by left: COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON. right: COURTESY THE ARTIST AND GALLERIA FRANCO NOERO, TORINO.

Left: The Majestic Plumage necklace by Piaget uses a rare 7.49-carat, pear-shaped Parau00edba tourmaline and a painterly mix of red spinels and blue, yellow, and orange sapphires and tourmalines to re-create the fiery colors of an exotic bird. Crafted by Mau00eetre du2019ArtNelly Saunier, the magnificent adornment doubles as an ear cuff. Right: Known for her vivid self-portraits and expressive still lifes, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo poses with her pet birds delicately perched on her shoulders and lap in her 1941 work Me and My Parrots.

Photograph by left: COURTESY OF PIAGET. right: ALBUM/ART RESOURCE, NY

Left: Pop artist Tom Wesselmann played with the scale of bold shapes to compose his images of female body parts juxtaposed with a collection of everyday objects, such as Nude (Lithograph) (1976). Right: For Valentinou2019s recent spring ready-to-wear presentation, staged for the first time in Milan, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli unveiled a fresh take on romanticism with a collection that includes billowy silhouettes in graphic floral prints.

Photograph by left: JEFFREY STURGES, COURTESY OF GAGOSIAN. Right: COURTESY OF VALENTINO.