Dennis RomeroYou usually don't see art worth $50,000 just sitting on the street.
In this case, however, it was a Samuel Bayer portrait remixed by artist Phil Frost that happened to double as a massive billboard above Sunset Boulevard east of Crescent Heights Boulevard near the Sunset Strip.
And it's gone:
Representatives of Bayer and Ace Gallery Beverly Hills this week said the billboard was stolen on March 4 between 6 and 10 p.m.
Publicity stunt? The theft has been reported to police, so there's that.
Bayer produced a series of billboards in anticipation of his Ace Gallery show (through April 27), reps said. They consisted of “diptych and triptych portraits of female models,” according to a statement.
The one near the Sunset Strip got the Phil Frost treatment, increasing its value and, apparently, making it fodder for sticky hands who know their street art.
Credit: Samuel Bayer
Majd Elias of Swing Media, which owns the billboard, said:
It has definitely been one of the most bizarre and overzealous situations we have seen in our 14 years of business.
Bayer and Swing Media were offering an unspecified reward for info leading to the recovery of the art (contact info).
Credit: Samuel Bayer
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