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Three Ways To Please Art & Design Aesthetes

A YSL retrospective and Design Miami lands in L.A.

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL and KERSTIN CZARRA

 

Fair’s Fair
For the first time, the acclaimed DESIGN MIAMI/ is coming west. The art fair, which gathers influential collectors, gallerists, designers, curators, and critics worldwide, chose a Holmby Hills estate designed by the late architect Paul R. Williams to showcase some of today’s most influential art and design. “A land of dreamers and creators, California has always been fertile ground for risk-taking and avant-garde thinking,” says curatorial director Ashlee Harrison. Visitors will see an imaginative gathering of pieces from local galleries, such as Friedman Benda, which recently opened a gallery in Melrose Hill, and The Future Perfect, known for championing artists such as Chris Wolston and Leena Similu. Harrison will also curate a Podium exhibit, Master Works of Collectible Design: 1948–Present, which is a survey of innovative works that made the world stand up and look at L.A. design. designmiami.com. K.C.

All About Yves
Line illustrations reveal the true artistic intention of each design YVES SAINT LAURENT dreamed up during his storied career from haute couture wunderkind to head of his eponymous Paris fashion house. Now his drawing practice forms the basis of a new OCMA show, Saint Laurent: Line and Expression. Pencil and pen sketches with his vibrant color combinations form the exhibition’s backbone alongside photographs, haute couture garments, and accessories created from 1963 to 2001. The Algeria-born designer famously withdrew into solitude to devise each collection, often during twice-a-year stays in Marrakech, before handing over the ideas to the ateliers. These simple studies amount to a tour de force through his fearless innovations. June 29–Oct. 27. 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa, 714-780-2130; ocma.art. E.V.

Art of Sound
The Bay Area has played an outsize role in the way people experience music over the past century, including psychedelic posters and album covers, portable digital music players, file-sharing software, and inventive audio devices — and now SFMOMA is filling its seventh floor with some of the evidence. Art of Noise includes more than 800 works, many drawn from the museum’s extensive collection, which includes a cache of visually stunning and era-defining 1960s and ’70s posters. There are also four audio installations, including sound environments created by Stockholm-based teenage engineering (who also helped design the show) and Japanese sound artist Yuri Suzuki. Throughout the exhibition’s run, musicians and archivists are set to live-curate Brooklyn-based speaker guru Devon Turnbull’s audio sculpture. Come for the printed flyers and phonographs and stay for the milestones in sound technology, from hi-fis to Suzuki’s outdoor sonic seating. Through Aug. 18. 151 3rd St., S.F., 415-357-4000; sfmoma.org. E.V.

 

These stories originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of C Magazine.

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