As free standing well placed street furniture, commercial billboards provide their own framing device for anyone who would like to communicate their message and increasingly their use in the public sphere is being debated. Billboard “takeovers” have often been the purview of “culture jammers” or “ad busters” since at least the 1970s, where the intent is to hijack the original commercial message to illuminate a social or political one. In more recent years a number of more traditional artists have been simply reclaiming this private message space as a canvas, an opportunity to display a bit of individual creativity.
OX in Troyes, France. July 2012. (photo © OX)
In new billboard takeovers from French Street Artist OX, the billboard is part of a visual conversation with its environment. Other times his geometric simplicity stands on its own without commentary but typically his ingenious incorporation of context brings the simple takeover to serve a higher purpose than drawing attention to itself. By treating the billboard as an element in a holistic field of play, a passerby may see everything around it in a new perspective, or see it for the first time. Without lecturing, this visual humorist opens the conversation about the appropriate use of public space for messages, and art.
OX in Troyes, France. July 2012. (photo © OX)
OX in Brooklyn. Spring 2010. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
OX in Brooklyn. Spring 2010. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
We congratulate our partners at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin for the re-opening of the museum during these difficult times. We applaud their commitment to the arts and to the institution and the...
Conceptual Piece Lifts a Toast to "The Style Master General" “Every time a subway passes through the station, it is as if Dondi's work is back on the trains,” Hot Tea says as he describes his new w...
We made it! But it was a rough few days just finished with storms and rain and snow and high winds and flooding and downed trees around New York and its environs. Similarly, as one surveys the c...
There has been some talk recently (meaning, oh, the last 30 years) about the role of street art and graffiti as a form of protest or political speech and its relevance, irrelevance, plenty or paucity....
"Street Art Tourism" Is Capturing More Attention Eco-tourism is so popular for vacation travelers right now. You know, treading light and your carbon footprint and all that. Then there is Plastic Sur...