4 Striking Examples of Life Imitatating Art

Art, design, and fashion converge in moments of unexpected visual synchronicity

Model in a long pink coat on a runway, next to a pink-themed room with a circular table and stools.
Photo: LEFT: Courtesy of Valentino. RIGHT: JEFF McLANE, Courtesy of ICA LA.
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Life Imitates Art: 4 Striking Examples

Left: Artist Sadie Barnette pays homage to her fatheru2019s tavern, San Franciscou2019s first Black-owned gay bar, with The New Eagle Creek Saloon (2019), an installation commissioned by Bay Area experimental art nonprofit the Lab and later displayed at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Right: For his fall 2022 presentation, Valentinou2019s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, electrified the runway with womens- and menswear in a monochromatic palette of shocking pink.

Photograph by LEFT: JEFF McLANE, Courtesy of ICA LA. RIGHT: Courtesy of Valentino

Left: Cartieru2019s Beautu00e9s du Monde high-jewelry Sand Aspis necklace creates a serpentine effect with its mesmerizing pattern of 18K rose gold, yellow and white diamonds, and petrified wood adorned with a 3.63-carat, triangular-shaped, rose-cut diamond; 212-446-3419. Right: For Infinite Regress LXXXII (2019), which is part of the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Eamon Ore-Giron painted geometric forms drawn from hieroglyphics, Incan jewelry, textiles, architecture, and more to create spatial illusions with no beginning or end.

Photograph by LEFT: Courtesy of Cartier. RIGHT: Joshua White, Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York

Left: In a nod to the glamorous interiors of the 1970s, Bakeru2019s Freeform cocktail table features an amorphous slab of Arabescato marble floating atop a trio of bulbous legs. Right: Designed by Heatherwick Studio in partnership with landscape architects MNLA, Little Island transformed New Yorku2019s Pier 54, badly damaged during Hurricane Sandy, into a whimsical oasis of grassy knolls and inventive play spaces set upon 132 concrete columns.

Photograph by LEFT: Courtesy of Baker Interiors Group. RIGHT: Stefan Ruiz

Included in Gucci creative director Alessandro Micheleu2019s high-jewelry collection, titled Hortus Deliciarum (Latin for u201cgarden of delightsu201d), this elaborate 18K-white-gold cuff, embedded with spinels, fire opals, beryls, topaz, and diamonds, references the tradition of 18th-century grand tour souvenirs with a micro-mosaic depicting a Roman landscape with an ancient temple. OPPOSITE: Giorgio de Chiricou2019s Metaphysical painting Piazza du2019Italia (circa 1955), which sold at Sothebyu2019s New York last year, bends time and space with its mix of mythological sculpture, otherworldly architecture, and elongated shadows.

Trendy pink fashion runway with a model in a glittery coat and vibrant pink setup with stools and a neon sign in the background.
Gold necklace with diamond accents next to an abstract painting featuring geometric shapes and lines in gold and red tones.
Marble coffee table with curved legs beside an image of a modern waterfront park structure on pillars.
Colorful jewelry piece depicting a temple scene next to a surreal painting of a similar temple structure.
Trendy pink fashion runway with a model in a glittery coat and vibrant pink setup with stools and a neon sign in the background.
Gold necklace with diamond accents next to an abstract painting featuring geometric shapes and lines in gold and red tones.
Marble coffee table with curved legs beside an image of a modern waterfront park structure on pillars.
Colorful jewelry piece depicting a temple scene next to a surreal painting of a similar temple structure.