Bus Benches Get Artistic ~ Los Angeles / Boyle Heights

Keep an eye out for new public art on the streets debuting this week in Council District 14. Spurred by Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar, and created by the DoArt Foundation and MAP, twenty artistic installations were placed on bus benches throughout Downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights on Friday, July 5, 2013.

The work is interesting, and at times challenging. Two artists were selected to grace the locations-- Dulce Pinzón and Jon Rafman. Read more about the artists below, and see images from the installations and a location map.

Mexican artist Dulce Pinzón provided images from her “Superheroes” series of photographs, which explores the lives and labor jobs held by many migrant workers, specifically of Mexican heritage, and pays homage to these brave and determined men and women who somehow manage, without the help of any supernatural power, to withstand extreme conditions of labor in order to help their families and communities survive and prosper. This project consists of color photographs of Mexican immigrants dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes.

Contemporary artist Jon Rafman lends images from his “9 Eyes” series, which depict interesting and unusual images caught on Google Earth Street View from around the world. With an ostensibly neutral gaze, the Street View photography exhibits a spontaneous quality unspoiled by the sensitivities or agendas of a human photographer.