Road work

Mass MoCA posts the signs of the times

by Leon Nigrosh

BILLBOARD: ART ON THE ROAD
Organized by MASS MoCA,
87 Marshall Street,
North Adams, through September 28.

Billboards. Boon to advertisers, bane to environmentalists, but always a powerful source of product recognition or of political propaganda. And they often create controversy -- witness the recent X Show billboard flap right here in Worcester. So provocative was the show's message (which, in one, suggested the how-tos of tipping strippers) that City Council had them removed. Governments have long known how effective slogans can be. The ancient Greeks used billboards to announce public games; the Romans kept people informed about political issues with huge postings. Uncle Sam's image rallied the troops for WWI, and two decades later he urged people to buy savings bonds to fund WWII. But it wasn't until the 1960s that artists and art co-ops began to appropriate billboards as a means of artistic expression.

To help inaugurate its opening season, MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) organized the first retrospective ever to celebrate nearly 30 years of artist billboards. Because this show is so grand in scope, it couldn't fit in MASS MoCA, the largest gallery space in the United States. Instead, the museum made arrangements with Callahan Outdoor Advertising to reproduce and enlarge the original designs of more than 20 artists and mount them on 25 billboards placed in western Massachusetts and eastern New York on highways that head to the museum located in downtown North Adams.

What sets artist billboards apart from the typical ad campaign is that they "sell" an idea instead of an actual product. Forever Champions, for example, was specially designed for the exhibition by Gary Simmons. Featuring multiple images of an Adams High School basketball trophy, the work commemorates local fans' devotion to the sport. In another context, or for those passersby not familiar with the area's basketball tradition, it still represents the pure joy of winning.

Context is often important for most usual billboard advertising, but it is particularly important for artist billboards. Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Untitled (Bed), a black-and-white photograph of an empty bed, was originally produced in 1992 as part of an AIDS awareness program in New York City. In the sylvan hills of Berkshire County, this intimate scene appears more ambiguous and serene. In contrast, Keith Haring's 1986 bright orange and black, graffiti-like Crack is Wack is as potent and viable an image and message today as when it was first produced.

Several of the billboards contain a strong element of ironic propaganda. Erika Rothenberg's 1990 Traditional Families is a case in point. Here, we see a blue-eyed family: Dad, Mom, Sis, Brother, and the family dog (also with blue eyes) happily gazing out under the caption, "There are still homes in the U.S. that consist of a husband who works, a housewife and two kids!" The kicker is in the corner where Rothenberg has placed in parenthesis, "4%."

Sue Coe adds an element of humor to her irony-laced 1999 animal-rights propaganda poster Go Vegetarian. A bed-ridden man is confronted by apparitions of animals and fowl that he has eaten, all under the caption, "Modern man haunted by the ghosts of his meat."

Then there are the enigmatic billboards. Mary Pratt's 1987 Decked Mackerel shows a reproduction of the blue fish on a background of lively reds. And Genevieve Cadieux presents us with a gigantic color photo of a woman's lips, entitled La Voie Lactée (the Milky Way). Each contains a certain mysterious charm within their straightforward presentation -- and can bring a smile. Kay Rosen's 1994 billboard guarantees a smile of a simpler sort. It is block letters from A through I, all rendered in white on a light blue background -- except the last two, colored yellow, which call out a cheery "HI."

The museum is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The billboards can be viewed 24 hours a day. A map to the billboard sites is available at the museum. Call (413) 664-4481.