The 10 Biggest Music and Art Collaborations of 2013

If 2013 has been marked by one thing in the music world, it’s the continued habit of pop stars to push their work into the realm of fine arts. Mostly, this has come in the form of collaborations between artists and musicians—the bigger the pop star, the bigger the artist. It’s not that we’re surprised by this pattern of joining musicians with artists; we’re more surprised at the increasing frequency of the practice. Whether it’s for a performance, an album cover, an entire rave, or just a hobby-like collaboration, there’s been no shortage of crossover for fans of music and art. Here are the 10 Biggest Music and Art Collaborations of 2013.

The artist and filmmaker Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic debuted a film this year with music by one of the world’s biggest producers, Diplo. Though he usually works in calligraphy on paper, the artist laid a brush to the skin of a number of models (Miho Nikaido and Butoh performer Maki Shinagawa) to accomplish a new poetic performance by taking the work off the page. Diplo composed the music, largely absent of the drops we’ve come to know him for. The result is something totally unnerving, beautiful, and slightly strange.

Drake’s highly anticipated new album Nothing Was The Same featured artwork by Kadir Nelson. Nelson is known for some truly incredible works of art, including the cover of Michael Jackson’s posthumous Michael album. He’s an incredibly talented and celebrated painter, with a strong streak in African-American identity. Drake’s decision to use him in the work is consciously pointed toward his heritage.

Swizzy posted an Instagram earlier this year of himself and Young British Artist lynchpin Damien Hirst. The two were working on one of Hirst’s classic spin-art paintings. And though the musician had to largely stay quiet on the nature of the collaboration, we caught up with him about just what was going on in the image, and how he and Hirst got along. “He’s a great friend,” Swizz said of the British painter. “For his art to be so dark, his spirit is so bright. It’s amazing to see somebody that’s so complete and into their craft that they bury themselves in it.”

For a release celebration of the new album White Women by electro duo Chromeo, the musicians teamed up with the designer duo Snarkitecture for a two-day art installation. Titled “The White Room,” the piece consisted of an old white Firebird crashed into a crumbling wall of foam, the contents of the car spilling out into he the room: pure white guitars and keyboards. The installation was at Milk Studios in New York City, and visitors to the piece were allowed to sit in the car, honk the horn, and get a little rowdy on it. We imagine Chromeo approves.

We all know just how much of a monster Pharrell is behind the decks. We also know how much he loves his artwork—he’s one of our most chronicled collectors, nabbing works from the likes of Basquiat, Warhol and others. In September, he and artist Daniel Arsham revealed a collaboration they’d been planning for a year. Pharrell described the collaboration: “He recreated the Casio MT-500, the first keyboard I ever made music with, as if it was found in an archaeological dig or in the distant future.” And Arsham elaborated: “Like much of my work, which features the seeming petrifaction of contemporary objects, the materials used to recreate Pharrell’s keyboard make it seem as though it was detected in a distant future or on an archeological dig.” Viewers of the showing of the stone MT-500s were even allowed to hold them provided special gloves were used.

Pharrell met up with noted French “photograffeur” JR, when he brought his mobile photoboth truck to Time Square this summer. JR’s projects are usually either much more focused on one region or people, but going to Times Square to paste portraits of strangers on the ground was an exercise reflecting transience rather than cultural permanence. Pharrell came through to add his own portrait to the collection of thousands that was created during JR’s residency in the New York crossroads. Of course, that meant JR pasted over the image of a not-as-known person in order to make room for Pharrell’s portrait. But it looks like it paid off. Images were released five months later, this September, of JR and Pharrell in the studio, indicating a forthcoming collaboration.

As part of a larger project for Art Basel Miami Beach, Swizz Beatz and Chicago artist Hebru Brantley teamed up to work on a painting together. It featured a colorful female head in profile, typical of much of Brantley’s work. But, instead of Brantley’s intricate details, Swizz laid his hand to the canvas to embellish the piece. Brantley, whose art found its way into Jay Z’s collection during the last incarnation of Art Basel Miami Beach, unveils the larger scope of the project with Swizz Beats December 6-8.

This was a huge pairing just for the perceived disparity between the two artists. Abramovic, a performance artist of the durational variety, and Jay Z, a rap artist who in part is known for his use of brevity. But they came together around the release of Jay Z’s new album Magna Carta Holy Grail, at New York City’s Pace Gallery. The rapper elevated himself to the levels of high art when he and Abramovic got together for what became “Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film.” The even featured Jay rapping “Picasso Baby” for six hours straight to a number of celebrities including Judd Apatow, Alan Cumming, Fab Five Freddy, George Condo, Rosie Perez, Jim Jarmusch, Taraji P. Henson, Adam Driver, Jemima Kirke, Cynthia Rowley, Michael K. Williams, Pablo Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier Picasso, and Wale. Mark Romanek filmed the entire spectacle. But the concept and inspiration for the event came straight from Marina.

Wes Lang, the self-taught tattoo-cum-fine artist steeped in rock ‘n’ roll, was tapped by Kanye West to design the merchandise for West’s recent Yeezus tour. These include polarizing designs of skeletons wrapped in the Confederate flag, with the phrase, as well as Native American skulls clad in headdresses. If you’ve seen the Yeezus tour, you understand the enormity of the production—it is on par with late ’80s metal and rock shows, something that’s reflected in the designs of the merch. The hope is that the t-shirts are as memorable and worthwhile as the concert itself. Lang previously designed merchandise for the Grateful Dead. By working with Kanye on this project, he bridges a gap between rock and hip-hop that’s long been touted by the likes of Lil Wayne and Ye himself.

This is by far the biggest collaboration of the year. Jeff Koons, the art world’s post-industrial poster child teamed up with Lady Gaga, one of the world’s biggest pop stars, to create the visuals for her new album ARTPOP. It was a massive undertaking as Koons, no stranger to controversy, created a bust of Gaga in the nude, with a typically reflective sphere hiding her crotch. He also created a number of sculptures for her ArtRave in Brooklyn. The collaboration brought attention to the artistic themes of Gaga’s album while simultaneously giving Koons himself a bump in the marketplace. He recently set a record at auction for the high price of a piece of artwork made by a living artist, for $58 million dollars. They even went on to design the Life page for USA Today.