Art of Noise and Raymond Pettibon's Album Cover Legacy

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York is hosting "Art of Noise," an exhibition originating from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that explores the design of audio products and graphics, featuring iconic album covers like Peter Saville's "Unknown Pleasures" for Joy Division, Josef Müller-Brockmann's 1955 Beethoven poster, Milton Glaser's 1967 Bob Dylan cover, and Takenobu Igarashi's jazz festival posters. The show also includes ephemera like flyers and zines from the 1970s disco scene, curated by Joseph Becker of SFMOMA and Cynthia Trope of Cooper Hewitt, running through August 16. Separately, David Zwirner Books and the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen, Germany, have published "Nervous Breakdown: Raymond Pettibon" (2026), a monograph of the artist's album covers featuring essays including one by Ulrich Loock and a republished 1985 Artforum piece by Kim Gordon. Pettibon, known for his punk-era work with Black Flag, created covers for Sonic Youth's "Goo" (1990), Foo Fighters, Lana Del Rey, and Body/Head, among others. The book highlights his range beyond punk, from chaotic splatters to calm beach scenes, and includes his ambivalence about the art-music connection.