When music legends like Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan were dominating radio waves, another type of artist—sign painters—were enjoying their heyday on the famed music boulevard known as The Sunset Strip. Here to take us on a journey to explore the work of this lost art form is photographer Robert Landau, who, while just a teenager, captured the iconic images in Los Angeles.
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An exploratory evening with Robert Landau will take place this Thursday, July 25, at the Sunset Strip Market—a weekly food event and farmers’ market, which emerged from a shared vision to create a community-based event that would engage residents as well as showcase The Sunset Strip.
During the presentation, Landau will pull images from his new book, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Billboards of The Sunset Strip,” as well as provide the historical insight that helped these hand-painted billboards earn their place in music history.
Painted on long, horizontal wooden canvases, the billboards reflected the sound and vision of a new generation while transforming The Strip into a veritable drive-thru art gallery. In 1967, for instance, you would be hard-pressed to find a passing muscle car that didn’t stop and take notice of the billboard for the Doors smash debut album that year. Highly trained commercial artisans would hand paint the wooden panels and then paint over them with fresh new images once their display time was completed.
The Sunset Strip Market is located at 8755 Sunset Blvd. Photo presentation begins this Thursday at 8:15 pm.
Keep updated on future events at the Sunset Strip Market by following them on Twitter @SunsetStripMRKT.
