Plastic Jesus (artist)

Plastic Jesus was trained as a photojournalist and shifted his practice from the camera to street installations in order better address major sociopolitical and cultural issues.{{Cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/plastic-jesus-cocaine-oscar-statue-775770|title=Behind the Coked-Out Oscar: Artist Wants to Shatter Hollywood's Glossy Exterior|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://mynewsla.com/hollywood/2016/07/21/how-a-british-photojournalist-became-plastic-jesus-in-la/|title=How a British photojournalist became Plastic Jesus in LA - MyNewsLA.com|date=2016-07-22|work=MyNewsLA.com|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}}

In 2013, Plastic Jesus targeted the Best Buy chain, covertly placing black boxes that he constructed alongside the store's high priced electronics.{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/best-buy-prank-useless-plastic-box_n_3743475.html|title=Best Buy Prankster Channels Banksy, Puts 'Useless Plasticbox' On Shelves (PHOTOS)|last=Fairchild|first=Caroline|date=2013-08-12|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}} The boxes had fake price tags for $99.99 and labels that read: "Useless Plastic box 1.2. Another gadget you don't really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of use."{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-street-artist-plastic-jesus-pranks-best-buy-20130812-story.html|title=Street artist Plastic Jesus pranks Los Angeles Best Buys|date=2013-08-13|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2017-06-15|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}} The intention of the project was to comment on the United States' infatuation with technology and need to own its latest trends.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/best-buy-prankster-puts-useless-plastic-box-store/story?id=19984573|title='Useless Plastic Box' Pulled from Best Buy Shelves|date=2013-08-16|website=ABC News|access-date=2017-06-16}}

Days before the 2014 Academy Awards, Plastic Jesus installed a life-sized golden statue of an Oscar injecting heroin in his arm in Hollywood. This work, controversial in and of itself for its commentary on drug use in Hollywood, made an even greater impact since actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has recently died from a heroin overdose.{{Cite news|url=http://laist.com/2014/02/28/photo_oscars_statue_with_heroin_nee.php|title=Photo: Oscars Statue With Heroin Needle In Arm Appears In Hollywood|work=LAist|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602132023/http://laist.com/2014/02/28/photo_oscars_statue_with_heroin_nee.php|archive-date=2017-06-02}} With this piece, as well as a life-sized golden Oscar snorting cocaine he installed the following year, Plastic Jesus focuses a spotlight on drug abuse within the entertainment industry.{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/controversial-heroin-shooting-oscar-statue-comments-philip-seymour-hoffman-death-article-1.1706542#ixzz2ueM9whU6|title=Philip Seymour Hoffman's death inspires Oscar 'heroin' statue by Hollywood artist|work=NY Daily News|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/21/plastic-jesus-s-coke-snorting-oscar-the-academy-s-public-enemy-no-1-speaks|title=Plastic Jesus's Coke-Snorting Oscar: The Academy's Public Enemy No. 1 Speaks|last=Yamato|first=Jen|date=2017-01-30|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=2017-06-16}}{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/street-artist-plastic-jesus-puts-life-size-cocaine-snorting-oscar-statue-on-hollywood-boulevard-263337|title=Street Artist Plastic Jesus Puts Life-Size Cocaine-Snorting Oscar Statue on Hollywood Boulevard {{!}} artnet News|date=2015-02-21|work=artnet News|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}} In 2016, Plastic Jesus installed his first female Oscar, a golden stripper referencing the objectification of women in Hollywood; in 2017, it was the rapper Kanye West re-imagined as a golden, crucified Jesus.{{Cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/artist-imagines-oscar-as-a-stripper-photos-6646833|title=Artist Imagines Oscar as a Stripper (PHOTOS)|last=Romero|first=Dennis|date=2016-02-26|work=L.A. Weekly|access-date=2017-06-16}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kanye-west-jesus-statue_us_58aec37ce4b05ca474a0e6b1|title=Praise Yeezus! Kanye West Jesus Statue Rises In Hollywood|last=Dicker|first=Ron|date=2017-02-23|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}} In 2018, Plastic Jesus created a lifesize, golden statue of Harvey Weinstein in a bathrobe on a casting couch with an Academy Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-weinstein/harvey-weinstein-casting-couch-statue-unveiled-ahead-of-oscars-idUSKCN1GD6K3|title=Harvey Weinstein 'Casting Couch' statue unveiled ahead of Oscars|date=2 March 2018|publisher=|via=Reuters}}

In 2015, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti implemented a six-month testing period where new street signs designed to improve parking conditions would be put up throughout the city.{{Cite news|url=https://www.lamayor.org/mayor-garcetti-signs-vision-zero-executive-directive-end-traffic-deaths-la|title=Mayor Garcetti Signs "Vision Zero" Executive Directive to End Traffic Deaths in LA|last=LA|first=Mayor Garcetti Signs "Vision Zero" Executive Directive to End Traffic Deaths in|date=2015-08-24|work=Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti|access-date=2017-06-15|language=en}} Plastic Jesus added his own street signs to the mix that read "No Kardashian Parking Anytime," to offer his perspective on our culture's obsession with celebrities and false idols, including the Kardashian family.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/banksy-of-la-plastic-jesus-protests-against-kardashians-with-rogue-parking-signs-10162002.html|title='No Kardashian' signs put up in Los Angeles|date=2015-04-08|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-06-15|language=en-GB}} The artist intended for the signs to be both a critique of reality television and also an indictment of the city for enabling the paparazzi to swarm public places.{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kardashian-plastic-jesus-art-286164|title=Plastic Jesus's Anti-Kardashian Street Art - artnet News|date=2015-04-08|work=artnet News|access-date=2017-06-15|language=en-US}}

In 2016, then-Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump announced his plan to build a wall alongside the border between the United States and Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37243269|title=Donald Trump's Mexico wall: Who is going to pay for it?|date=2017-02-06|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-GB}} As a response against this plan, Plastic Jesus built a 6-inch concrete wall topped with razor wire, miniature U.S. flags and signs that read 'Keep Out' written in both Spanish and English to encircle Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.{{Cite news|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/07/tiny-wall-erected-around-donald-trumps-star.html|title=Street Artist Plastic Jesus Erects Tiny Wall Around Donald Trump's Star On the Hollywood Walk of Fame|work=pastemagazine.com|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en}} Trump received the star in 2007 for his role on The Apprentice and, prior to Plastic Jesus' installation, it had been vandalized on several occasions.{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/plastic-jesus-wall-donald-trump-hollywood-star-356303|title=Artist Builds Wall Around Donald Trump Hollywood Star -artnet News|date=2016-07-21|work=artnet News|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}}

In the wake of the 2016 Presidential election, Plastic Jesus was inspired again to use Donald Trump as fodder for his art, this time commenting on Trump's executive order on immigration.{{Cite news|url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a53626/plastic-jesus-future-internment-camps/|title=A Conversation with the Artist Behind Those 'Future Internment Camps'|date=2017-03-06|work=Esquire|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en}} The artist crafted a series of signs that he posted on vacant lots and building sites in cities throughout the country with the text "Lot Reserved For: Future Internment Camp" printed above an image of the United States' Seal.{{Cite news|url=https://hyperallergic.com/363607/street-artist-marks-future-internment-camps-around-the-us/|title=Street Artist Marks "Future Internment Camps" Around the US|date=2017-03-07|work=Hyperallergic|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US}} The signs draw a connection between Trump's travel ban and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II; for instance, the text "Executive Order 9066" is a direct reference to the order originally signed in 1942 by Franklin D. Roosevelt to forcibly remove Japanese Americans from their homes and place them in internment camps.{{Cite news|url=http://laist.com/2017/03/06/plastic_jesus_internment_signs.php#photo-1|title=Signs Designating "Future Internment Camp" Go Up At Empty Lots Nationwide|work=LAist|access-date=2017-06-16|language=en-US|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621234304/http://laist.com/2017/03/06/plastic_jesus_internment_signs.php#photo-1|archive-date=2017-06-21}}

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plastic Jesus}}

Category:British street artists

Category:Pseudonymous artists

Category:Guerilla artists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people