Artists take over billboards. Hey, it’s a start.
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If you are among the many Angelenos who loathe the bright digital billboards that are now a part of our landscape, you will derive some visual relief from the MAK Center for Art and Architecture’s upcoming ‘urban exhibition.’ From Feb. 5 though March 12, “How Many Billboards? Art In Stead,” will feature 21 newly commissioned artworks for billboards installed along major boulevards around town. Participants include notable California conceptual artists Michael Asher, Jennifer Bornstein, Eileen Cowin (whose rendering of ‘I Love You Too’ is shown above), Allan Sekula, Susan Silton, Kerry Tribe and James Welling, among others.
‘The streets of Los Angeles become the walls of the exhibition, and the city itself becomes a large museum,’ says Kimberli Meyer, director of the MAK Center. In that case, can’t the blinding Disneyland ad on Cahuenga Boulevard be transformed into a sedate gallery?
The project, which will unveil seven billboards starting this week, will also feature an exhibition at the Schindler House, curator-led bus tours and a Google map plotting the installation sites. To watch the project unfold and subscribe for information updates, click here. For more renderings, go to the jump.
Yvonne Rainer’s, ‘Looking Good’ 2010.
Jim Welling’s ‘Minima Moralia,’ 2010.
Ken Gonzales-Day’s ‘Untitled, Profile Series,’ 2010.
David Lamelas’ ‘Untitled,’ 2010.
-- Lisa Boone
Photo credits: Courtesy of the artists and the MAK Center
