LA street artist Plastic Jesus put a life-sized gold Oscars statue snorting cocaine on Hollywood Boulevard, just yards from the red carpet (and World of Wonder’s offices.) The gold guy is snorting coke on his hands and knees, and popped up for just a few hours yesterday before being removed by the artist. Plastic Jesus told the Daily News:

“We’re deluded if we’re saying that cocaine isn’t a major part of Hollywood and almost every other city in the world. A lot of people will sit down and watch the Oscar show this Sunday and then go and indulge in cocaine. I want to cause controversy about the issue. But I don’t want to cause controversy about the placement. I didn’t want a confrontation. The piece is out there. People have posted it. It got enough publicity to get people to think.”

Last year, Plastic Jesus created a similar statue of a life-sized Oscar statue injecting heroin which followed the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of an overdose.

UPDATE: When word got out the “Oscar coke statue” was just up the street, Adam, James and Blake RUSHED over to the spot, only to find it gone… as they wrote me, “sad face.”

(Photos, Plastic Jesus; via The Daily News)