Giant Oscar Statue Snorting Coke Appears on Hollywood Blvd

A LA-based street artist called Plastic Jesus installed a giant Academy Award statue snorting cocaine on Hollywood Boulevard on Friday that has since been taken down. People are blown away by the subtlety of this piece.  As KCAL9’s Laurie Perez reports, Plastic Jesus hides his identity due to the illegal nature of his work.  [14] Entitled “Hollywood’s Best Party,” the life-sized golden Oscar statue is on its hands and knees, holding a rolled-up hundred dollar bill to lines of white powder. The statue was featured on a red-carpet like pedestal, flanked with velvet ropes, even a security staff.  [7] The Tumblr for Plastic Jesus states he is “inspired by world news events, society, the urban environment, culture and politics,” and that his “work combines humour, irony, criticism and unique opinion to create art that engages on many levels.” [6] The artist says the installations are meant to call attention to drug addiction not only in Hollywood but society in general. “We only hear about drug addiction when a high-profile Hollywood celeb has a meltdown and goes in to rehab or dies,” Plastic Jesus told Variety. [12]

This particular piece is a statement on drug abuse and addiction in Hollywood. “The piece is intended to draw attention to Hollywood’s hidden problem of drug addiction that effects [sic] hundreds of people in the showbiz industry and is largely ignored until the death of a high profile celebrity,” Plastic Jesus collaborator Nick Stern said in a statement to LAist. [10] [17] CBS reports that Plastic Jesus suggested that the piece is a stance that the world and Hollywood especially know all too well. [14] “People like directors, producers, hair and make-up people, electricians, sound guys and so on, these people don’t get the care, the treatment that the high-profile people can access.” [14] Plastic Jesus told New York Daily News last year that his cousin and cousin’s wife both died from heroin overdoses, making his artistic statement more personal.  [4] [11] On Twitter, the artist points to a Los Angeles Times article about the (apparent) fatal drug overdose of Parks and Recreation producer Harris Wittels:

Looking closely at the piece, it appears that the artist gave Oscar use of his custom black “American Excess” credit card to cut his lines of blow.

The statue was up for around five hours before Plastic Jesus removed it after a “grouchy old man started ranting about it.” [1] [9] The disgruntled passerby went as far as to call the Chamber of Commerce, reports CBS 2 Los Angeles. [13] [14] That seems like a pretty weak reason to remove your scathing critique of Hollywood culture, but Plastic Jesus can do what he wants with his own art.  [1] “I want to cause controversy about the issue, but I don’t want to cause controversy about the placement,” the artist explained. “I didn’t want a confrontation. The piece is out there. People have posted it. It got enough publicity to get people to think.”  [1] [15] The Plastic Jesus team quickly disassembled the golden partier and got him out of there before authorities could.  [6] This “doesn’t want to offend” story also seems like bullshit since the Oscars are only two days away and the statue just happened to be placed right near where the red carpet ceremony takes place. A little bit of research shows that Plastic Jesus also made a very similar piece last year that showed an Oscar statue injecting heroin, which was erected in almost the exact same spot, just weeks after actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose.  [1] [14] Anyway, even if the statue is temporarily out of public reach for security reasons, those who want to see it for themselves will be happy to know that it’s slated to go back on display in front of an Urban Outfitters on Melrose Avenue over the weekend. [14]