Oscar’s Evil Twin Found Atop Runyon Canyon

Nicole Campoy-Leffler — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:31:47 +0000

A while ago, we posted an article asking what you, dear readers, thought about the distinction between art and vandalism. Skating the line, with a very charged political message, is British street artist D*Face who has installed two enormous and menacing Oscar statues atop two iconic LA locations: Runyon Canyon and Mel’s Drive-In in Hollywood. Both statues have skeleton-like figures with bits of flesh missing from their arms and legs exposing Oscar’s blood and bones. The one that sat at Runyon had a placard that read “Beauty Is One Snip Away,” while the other at Mel’s Drive-In said “Beauty Is Skin Deep.” They’ve both been removed since they were spotted yesterday morning, but the whole incident begs a whole host of questions, not least of which is: really? Mel’s Drive-In? We get Runyon Canyon, but that’s a strange choice.

More importantly, what do you think of all this? The two most basic sides must be: applause to D*Face for exposing a vanity-obsessed culture at a time when it’s at its most self-congratulatory vs. how petulant of this artist to criticize a sector of popular culture that he need not participate in if he finds it so disheartening.

FineArtsLA.com » art vs. vandalism

Oscar’s Evil Twin Found Atop Runyon Canyon