They called it "art in the streets" and that is exactly what they got. The Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca) in Los Angeles finds itself at loggerheads with the city's police force, amid allegations that its latest blockbuster exhibition has led to a spike in spray can-fuelled vandalism.
A week after it opened America's largest major show devoted entirely to graffiti, Moca has been accused of turning the Little Tokyo neighbourhood surrounding its Geffen Contemporary Gallery into a "magnet" for petty criminals.
As a result, the success of an exhibition which is attracting huge crowds to admire work by Banksy, Os Gemeos, Shepard Fairey and others is being overshadowed by controversy.
In addition to being accused of celebrating and inspiring vandalism, the gallery is also being forced to remove graffiti from nearby streets. Moca's PR department was also yesterday asked to explain why at least four of the artists invited to Los Angeles to contribute pieces for the exhibition devoted a portion of their stay to doing what comes naturally: illegally defacing some of the city's most prominent walls.
