Artwork Title: Oranges on Fire

Oranges on Fire, 1975

Larry Sultan

Between 1973 and 1989, Sultan and Mandel created fifteen unique designs for billboards that were installed in over ninety sites, mostly in California. The artists appropriated images and text from postcards, illustrated books, and magazine advertisements, replacing traditional slogans with unclear messages and nonsensical symbols. Mimicking advertising in form but not in function, the billboards challenged passersby with ambiguous, absurd, and thought-provoking content. For Sultan and Mandel, using the billboard celebrated the folk art of their media-rich hometown, Los Angeles, while offering a platform that could engage unsuspecting audiences in a typically passive and commercial context.
Uploaded on Nov 28, 2016 by Allen Lasky

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