Getty enters new territory

Looking to put its name in more populist places, the Getty Museum has tiptoed into a new promotional strategy with its Bill Viola show. Along with the usual banners, brochures and mailings for the show, which opened Jan. 24, the museum took out billboard ads at four locations for the exhibition, a contemporary video exhibition that’s a departure from typically art-historic Getty fare.

The billboards, which will stay up until the show comes down April 27, are all west of Highland Avenue: near San Vicente and Sunset boulevards; Santa Monica Boulevard and Holloway Drive; Fairfax Avenue and Santa Monica; and Sepulveda and Olympic boulevards.

Jill Murphy, chief of staff for Getty Trust President Barry Munitz, said the move is a new step for institution. Feedback has been so encouraging, she said, that the trust is planning eight to 10 billboards to promote an illuminated-manuscript show, “Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe,” that opens June 17.

-- Christopher Reynolds