15 Ways Art Projects Have Taken Over Billboards

It's hard to avoid the overpowering presence of billboard advertisements. This constant exposure, from driving in a car to walking on the streets, means that we become consumers even when we least expect it. However, many artists are working to subvert the power such ads have over us. Some have covered billboards in their own creations while others have converted the gigantic structures into art pieces. Check out the various ways artists have approached commercial spaces with 15 Ways Art Projects Have Taken Over Billboards.

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Created by: Shana Berger, Alyssa Hill, Owen Mundy, and Nathan Purath
Location: Indianapolis and Bloomington, Ind.
Year: 2002

"Your Art Here" was a non-profit public art organization that provided an outlet for all artists. The organization gave people who didn't have access to galleries or museums a chance to have their art appear on billboards in Indianapolis and Bloomington, Ind. Their mission was to branch out from the traditional spaces of museums and galleries to bring art to the public.

Created by: The National Gallery
Location: London
Year: 2007

For 12 weeks in 2007, the streets of London were turned into an art gallery for all to enjoy. The National Gallery, with help from HP and The Partners, created 30 replications of chosen masterpieces and placed them through the streets of London. The project was created to encourage people to visit the museum and view the genuine works in person. Each painting had a plaque next to it, just like the ones seen in the National Gallery, and included a phone number for people to call in order to listen to a recorded audio guide.

Created by: Chris O'Shea
Location: Traveling
Year: 2009-2010

Hand From Above was a traveling installation created by Chris O'Shea that went from South Korea to Japan to Liverpool. Hand From Above encouraged people to take a break from their everyday lives. Inspired by the mythical stories Land of the Giants and Goliath, passersby were virtually tickled, flicked, or picked up by a giant hand that could only be seen on the BBC Big Screen.

Created by: Sam3
Location: Murcia, Spain
Year: 2009

Sam3 finds street art to be the best way to reveal hidden realities. His gigantic black silhouette paintings found in the streets of Spain are both thought provoking and symbolic. His piece Skin, where a silhouette man tears down an advertisement, was part of his billboard series.

Created by: The MAK Center
Location: Los Angeles
Year: 2010

"How Many Billboards? Art In Stead" gave consumers a break from advertisements by covering billboards in Los Angeles with the work of 21 artists. The MAK Center, the project's partner, encouraged the people of Los Angeles to take the time to just look, think, and enjoy the work placed around the city.

Created by: Sam3
Location: Murcia, Spain
Year: 2010

Sam3's Subliminal piece was divided on 12 different billboards among the streets of Murcia, Spain. The work sends an obvious message about the subliminal power advertisements and billboards hold over us.

Created by: Vojtech Frohlich, Ondrej Mlady, Jan Simanek, and Vladimir Turner
Location: Prague
Year: 2011

Kolotoc was an intervention project where four Czech artists climbed a rotating billboard, attached themselves by a cable, and used the advertising structure as a swinging, carnival-like ride. The four artists, each with a pink balloon attached to their bodies, spun in the air above cars and trees.

Created by: Vicki DaSilva
Location: New York
Year: 2012

Vicki DaSilva, a substitute teacher from Pennsylvania, has made art for years and never thought her work would be displayed because she isn't backed by a gallery. But after winning in an online contest, DaSilva's Jasmine/Never Sorry (for Ai Weiwei) was seen by thousands after it replaced several advertisements on digital billboard screens in Times Square. The repeated illuminated words "Never Sorry" were inspired by the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry by Alison Klayman.

Created by: An anonymous team
Location: England
Year: 2012-present

"Brandalism," the biggest anti-advertising campaign in the world, consists of volunteers who have been trained in the techniques of subvertising—the art of subverting advertisements. The point? To shape people's understanding of what it means to be happy, beautiful, and successful instead of selling a product.

This rebellion against corporate ads started in 2012 with a small team of two friends in a van and has since grown significantly. Now with several teams in 10 UK cities, "Brandalism" has taken over 360 corporate advertising spaces and replaced them with original, unsigned artworks submitted by 40 international artists.

Created by: Olek
Location: Oakland, Calif.
Year: 2013

Olek is known for incorporating yarn into her public work. Her yarnbombing extended all the way to a billboard in Oakland, Calif. last year. Screaming out the word "Boys!" the work includes her signature pink camouflage design. Olek's billboard was made in dedication to the Billboard Liberation Front and is also the first crocheted billboard in the world.

Created by: Raymond Pettibon
Location: New York
Year: 2013

Raymond Pettibon's work No Title (Safe he called...) appeared on the High Line Park in New York in 2013. The piece plays on sports, religion, and pop culture, including a reference to Biggie's song "Where Brooklyn At?" The artwork alludes the East Coast-West Coast feud between Biggie and Tupac by portraying a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.

Created by: Ji Lee
Location: New York
Year: 2014

There are a lot more laughs happening in New York due to Ji Lee's ad hijacking project, "Clowinfy Stickers." Lee takes regular advertisements found on subways and bus shelters and places red clown nose stickers on the models featured in the ads. Just like that, the most serious advertisement becomes hilariously silly.

Created by: M&C Saatchi Stockholm
Location: Stureplan, Stockholm
Year: 2014

"Stockholm Is Your Canvas" is an interactive project that's part of Stockholm Art Week. "Stockholm Is Your Canvas" allows people to submit their own art and have it displayed on a digital billboard in Stureplan, Stockholm for 30 seconds. An average of 450,000 people pass by the selected billboard a day, making it the ideal place to showcase any artist's work.

Created by: Design Develop
Location: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
Year: 2014

"The Gregory Project," thought up by Design Develop, plans to make regular advertisement spaces into houses for the homeless. The billboard houses would fulfill their original purpose by advertising products while also providing housing. The houses, which are still in the planning stage, will be complete with a bed, bathroom, kitchen, and staircase.

Created by: Richard Reed
Location: US
Year: 2014

"Art Everywhere," a project that aims to flood the streets with great artwork, has branched out from the UK and made its way to the US in order to showcase iconic American art on billboards, subways, and bus shelters. The 58 artworks that will take over American billboards were revealed last month and will appear across the country in August. Among the chosen paintings are a portrait of George Washington and Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can.