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Beverly Hills Tears Down the Ron Paul Street Art Gracing Rodeo Drive
Photo by Raymond Dang via twitpic
The city of Beverly Hills has torn down the street art gracing Rodeo Drive that features a pastel pop art portrait of perennial presidential candidate Ron Paul.It's not clear exactly why the city tore it down—but we're pretty sure the gauche Mr. Brainwash-esque portrait was not approved by the city's Fine Art Commission, unlike the Robert Graham "Torso" sculpture it was affixed to. No police report was taken, according to Beverly Hills Patch, but the city says the poster could have damaged the sculpture's base.
“It did initially leave marks on the [sculpture] base from the double-sided tape, which took considerable time for our staff to remove in a manner that would not cause any damage," Beverly Hills spokeswoman Therese Kosterman told Patch.
If the long-shot candidate could win, it would be entertaining to see his supporters to come back and tell the city what a big mistake they made "Pretty Woman"-style. In the meantime, other the pop art portraits by Paul supporter Andrew Burke (aka Urbin Alchemist) are showing up around Los Angeles. The portrait at right is located at the Pershing Square station.
“Our intent is to build and maintain some steam and energy about Paul, and get people to want to find out more about him,” Burke told Patch. “We are talking to Ron Paul’s campaign to see if they want to use the painting. If not, we might do T-shirts and buttons.”
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