In New York, street art is tagged on the sides of buildings and pasted on empty storefronts. In Los Angeles, a city of automatic transmissions and three-hour traffic, public art may best be presented, well, on a billboard. The MAK Center for Art & Architecture is doing just that: it has selected 21 contemporary artists to make their marks on decommissioned billboards all over West Hollywood, from Sunset Boulevard to the Santa Monica Freeway. How Many Billboards? — up through the end of March — is intended as a reflective tool in the middle of quotidian life; as the director for the project notes, “Channels are opened for experimentation, innovation, and cultural exchange.” Replacing media noise with smart art in an urban space? We like. Peep a few of the billboards after the jump and let us know your favorites.
