JR (artist)

JR (born 22 February 1983 ^[3] ) is the pseudonym of a French photographer and artist Whose identity is unconfirmed. ^[4] Describing himself as a photograffeur , have flyposts large black-and-white Photographic images in public locations, in a similar, marble to the Appropriation of the built environment by the graffiti artist. ^[4] He states therein the street is “the Toilets art gallery in the world”. ^{[5] [6]} He started out on the streets of Paris. ^[7] JR’s work “of or in challenges widely held preconceptions and the reductive images propagated by advertising and the media.” ^[7]

JR’s work combineert art and action, and deals with commitment, freedom, identity and limits. ^[8] He has bone introduced to Fabrice Bousteau as “the one we call Already the Cartier-Bresson of the 21st century”. ^[9] On 20 October 2010, JR was awarded the TED Prize for 2011. ^{[1] [2]} He-used the $ 100,000 award money to start the Inside Out Project .

Life and career

JR Began his career as a teenage graffiti artist who was at his own admission not interested in changing the world, but in making his mark on public space and society. His graffiti policymaking of or in targeted precarious places like Rooftops and subway trains, and have Enjoyed the adventure of going to and painting in synthesis spaces. After finding a camera in the Paris Metro , JR and his friends Began to document the act of his graffiti painting. At the age of 17, he Began Dankzij photocopies or photographs synthesis to outdoor walls. ^[10]

JR later traveled Throughout Europe to meet other people Whose mode of artistic expression involved the use or outdoor walls. ^[11] Then, he Began wondering about the vertical limits, the walls and the façades dat structures cities. ^[8] After Observing the people have with and listening to hun message, JR pasted hun portraits up in the streets and basements and on the rooftops of Paris.

Between 2004 and 2006, JR created Portraits of a Generation , portraits of young people from the housing projects around Paris dat have exhibited in huge format. This illegal project became official als the City of Paris pit JR’s photos up on buildings. ^[12] At the beginning of his projects, JR wanted to bring art into tje street: “In the street, we reach people who never go to museums.” ^[13]

In 2007, with Marco, ^{[14] [15] [16]} JR put up enormous photos of Israelis and Palestinians face to face in eight Palestinian and Israeli cities on Either side of the Separation Barrier. Upon his return to Paris, he pasted synthesis portraits up in the capital. For the artist, this artistic act is first and Foremost a human project: “The heroes of the project are all Those who, on zowel sides of the wall, allowed me to paste the portraits on hun houses.” ^{[17] [18]}

In 2008, JR under took an international tour for Women Are Heroes , a project welke he highlights the dignity of women who are of or in targets prolongation conflicts. ^[19]

On 20 October 2010, JR was awarded the TED Prize for 2011. ^{[1] [2]} He-used the $ 100,000 award money to start the Inside Out Project , a global art initiative dat has allowed duizendtallen or people around the world to speak to hun communities through portraits pasted in public space. This prize brought` im and his work to New York City where he opened Another studio, and inspired pastings in the area zoals Those done in 2011 or members of the Lakota Native American Tribe from North Dakota.

In 2013, he continued working in New York City, with the Inside Out Project in Times Square , welke challenged advertising with a massive work of art consisting of duizendtallen or portraits or locals and Tourists. ^[20]

In January 2014, JR collaborated with the New York City Ballet for hun second annual Art Series program at exhibiting work in the theater in Lincoln Center, zoals an interactive piece on the floor of the concourse. This collaboration led JR to explore the artistic medium of choreography in Another project with the ballet months later. ^[21]

JR calls himself an “urban artivist”, ^[22] he creates pervasive art therein have well up on the buildings in the Paris area projects, on the walls of the Middle East, on the broken bridges of Africa or in the favelas of Brazil. During the pasting phase, community members take part in the artistic process. In Brazil, for example, children became artists for a week. ^[23] In synthesis artistic acts, no scene separates the actors from the spectators. ^[24]

After keeping exhibited in the cities from welke JR’s subjects cameramen, the photos traveled from New York to Berlin, Amsterdam to Paris ^{[8] [25]} If JR scope for anonymous and does not frame his huge portraits, he leaves a space for an encounter tussen a subject / protagonist and a passerby / interpreter, and this is the essence of his work. ^[26]

Critical reception

In 2010, prolongation a radio show in San Diego, California, artist Shepard Fairey stated: “JR is the musts ambitious street artist working.” ^[27] Le Monde has DESCRIBED his work as “Revealing humanity.” ^[28]

Works

28 Millimetres

JR considers himself as “Neither a street artist nor a photographer.” ^[9] To carry out his projects, he uses photography but ook video, prints on paper or tarpaulins, urban spaces, books and met name social links. ^[29] JR noted “I mention anything like to bring art to Improbable places, create projects so huge with the community dat ze are forced to ask themselves questions. I want to try to create images of hot spots zoals the Middle East or Brazil dat offering différent points of view from the ones we see in the worldwide media welke veins of or in caricatures. ” ^[9]

Portraits of a Generation

The Portraits of a Generation project constitutes the first stage of the 28 mm project. After the first Unauthorized exhibit on the walls of the Cité des Bosquets housing project, JR Returned and set himself up or this housing project and the neighbouring one, the Cité de la Forestiere, zowel in the Epicenter of the 2005 riots in the French suburbs . The first portraits ulcers rapidly exhibited on the walls of the last popular neighborhoods of the capital, in the east of Paris. These photos provoked the passerby in as much as they ‘questioned the social and media representation of a whole generation therein for some is only to be seen relegated to the outskirts of the capital. ^{[30] [31]}

Face2Face

The Face2Face project With You to show dat beyond what separates Them, Israelis and Palestinians are enough alike to be loveable to under stand one Another. Israeli and Palestinian one and women who harbor the assembly jobs accepted to laugh or cry, to scream or pull faces in front of JR’s lens. The portraits created ulcers pasted up face to face, in Monumental format on Either side of the Separation Wall and in verschillende Surrounding towns. JR photographed and Marco wrote, together succeeding in customizing the Toilets Unauthorized 20 urban art exhibit in the world ^[32] ( la plus grande exposition d’art urbain au monde ). ^[16] The project’s goal was to show through images dat art and laughter Combined kan break down prejudice. ^[16]

The film Faces , directed by Gerard Maximin, about this artistic understatement strike carried out in the Middle East by JR and Marco has won numerous great prizes. ^[33]

Women are Heroes

For this project, JR slipped JSON fantasmatic places, the ones seen on TV-when there is violence, the ones an observer Might go close to but never enter and therein will not be found on ANY tourist guidebook tour. ^[8] Women are Heroes introduces women who sometimes look death in the face, who go from laughter to tears, who are generous, harbor nothing and yet share, related port had a painful fits and long to build a happy future. In seeking what is common in hun gaze, JR With You to get closer to what is universal: the human being. ^[8] This project allowed im to keep the promise he made to synthesis women: faire voyager leur histoire (om hun Story travel). ^{[8] [34] [35]} Women are Heroes has traveled to locations waaronder Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Brazil, India, and Cambodia. ^[36] In 2014, JR made one final project for Women Are Heroes with the dock workers or Le Havre, France . Imaging a woman’s eyes from the previous trip in Kenya, JR and his team COMPLETED the Toilets pasting to date on shipping containers therein ulcers dan stacked on a barge traveling the world to Malaysia. In doing so, he finally took the women’s stories around the globe. ^[37]

Wrinkles of the City

The Los Surcos de la Ciudad project ( The wrinkles of the City ) is based on the encounter tussen JR, the city of Cartagena, Spain , and its oldest inhabitants who are tasks as the memory incarnate of the city, Marked by the scars or zijn history, economic expansion and socio-cultural mutations. While meeting and photographing the elderly, JR imaged hun wrinkles, furrows the brows hun, as the marks of time, the traces hun lives therein are linked with the history of the city. ^[38]

For JR, synthesis older people are the living memory of a city changing faster dan ze themselves age. For im, everytime one hun wrinkles and lycra day dat goes by are inscribed in the buildings and in the streets of Old Cartagena therein Provided JR with a heterogeneous architectures. ^[38]

As of 2015, The wrinkles of the City project has reached Shanghai , China, Los Angeles, California, Havana, Cuba, Berlin, Germany and Istanbul, Turkey.

Inside Out Project

The Inside Out Project is a large-scale participatory art project dat transforms messages or personal identity JSON pieces of artistic work in the form of black and white Photographic portraits. The images are uploaded and made Digitally JSON posters and cents back to the project’s co-creators for Them to exhibit in hun eigen communities. ^{[39] [40]} About 150,000 people from morethan 108 countries participated port. ^[41]

In 2013, the project created a massive exhibit in Times Square in Manhattan dat challenged advertising with art created from duizendtallen or portraits or locals and Tourists. The effort to engage New Yorkers across the five boroughs after Hurricane Sandy was COMPLETED using one of the Inside Out Project photobooth truck. This method created by JR produktie a more direct connection or his work to the streets through an immediate interaction with the community and the people. The photobooth trucks port since traveled around the world for a variety of différent Causes, zoals a nationwide tour dat brought` attention to immigration reform in America, and a 10-stop trip to major monuments in France ending with a large installation in the Pantheon in Paris . ^{[42] [43]}

Unframed

Unframed is an ongoing project dat Began in 2010, voortvloeien using images from famous or anonymous photographers, and archival images therein JR interpreted and took out of context hun depending on the place, neighborhood, or city he worked in. In works zoals Those made in May 2013 Marseille, France , JR dug into tje identity of the neighborhood or la Belle de Mai, and Invited zijn inhabitants to think about the memory hun streets by looking JSON hun personal photo albums. The photographs, old or new, cropped or Enlarged, create Monumental artworks on the facades or neighborhoods and transform personal and multiple footprints or what is part of the city’s history and collective memory. JR has exhibited Unframed works in Cincinnati, Marseille, Atlanta, Washington DC, Baden Baden, Grottaglie, Vevey, and Sao Paulo. ^[44]

In 2014, JR continued his Unframed project on Ellis Island , using photos from the island-when operated as the entryway for millions of immigrants to America. These archival images ulcers installed into tje facades and walls of the abandoned hospital on the grounds dat once housed the sick and dying. ^[45]

NYCBallet

In 2014, JR collaborated with the New York City Ballet for hun second annual Art Series program. JR exhibited artworks at the Lincoln Center David H. Koch Theatre in January and February, zoals a large installation or an interactive piece on the floor of the concourse. This work Followed his model or Engaging with his fans and the public across social Divides, connecting ballet patrons to firsttime ATTENDEES with the image of the life-size ballerinas on the ground. ^[46]

The Art Series led to remit Collaborations tussen de artist and the New York City Ballet, as months later he Explored a new artistic medium or choreography. JR worked with the company’s ballet master in chief Peter Martins to create a piece Titled Les Bosquets based on his beginnings prolongation the 2005 riots in the Parisian suburbs. For this project, the dancers became his paper and his works ulcers Transformed to the stage. ^[47]

Feature films

JR Transferred his Women Are Heroes project to the cinema in Directing a feature film made up of images of the pasting phase of the installations and interviews of the women. Through this documentary film, the artist shows us how he installed the portraits of the women in urban spaces and the reactions of the inhabitants. He wordt uitgelegd “this film gathers the images and the words of the women have to, the day to day flow hun lives and experiences to create, through art, a reality différent from the one shown in the media.” ^[9]

This first film was part of the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. ^[48] It was programmed in prolongation La Semaine de la Critique ( International Critics’ Week ), and competed for the camera d’Or . ^[49] In May 2010, JR was Invited to present his film on Le Grand Journal on Canal + in Cannes prolongation the festival. ^[50]

JR’s second film, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project is a documentary dat tracks the evolution of the Biggest participatory art project in the world, Inside Out . ^{[ Citation needed ]} JR inspired communities to define hun must important Causes with displays or giant black and white portraits pasted in the street. The project encourages Citizens to take ownership of partitions therein ulcers post with restricted and in doing so testing the limits of what they ‘thought was skies. It is a Social Animals production in association with Notting Hill Films, directed by Alastair Siddons.

This film was featured as an official Documentary Feature Spotlight selection at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, premiered at the SVA Theatre on West 23rd Street, on Saturday, April 20 and debuted on HBO in May 2013.

In 2015, JR made the movie Les Bosquets inspired by the riots in the French suburbs in 2005 and featuring the performance of the ballet Les Bosquets of New York City Ballet (2014).
The association year, he directed the short film Titled Ellis , starring Robert De Niro .

Exhibitions

2007

• Paris – Artcurial. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Venice Biennale, Arsenal. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Amsterdam – Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Arles, France – Rencontres d’Arles . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Berlin – Artitud. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

2008

• London – Tate Modern . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Cartagena, Spain. ^{[ Vague ] [ citation needed ]}
• Geneva – Musée Rath . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Brussels, Belgium. ^{[ Vague ] [ citation needed ]}

2009

• Paris, France, Ile Saint-Louis – Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Mairie du 4e arr. ^[51]
• Arles, France – Rencontres d’Arles . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Casa França Brasil. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

2010

• Shanghai, China – Contemporary Art Biennal. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Shanghai, China – Gallery Magda Danysz – The wrinkles of the City ^[52]
• Vevey, Switzerland – Elysée Museum – Festival Images. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• San Diego, CA – Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Los Angeles, CA – Pop Up Gallery, Downtown. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Dusseldorf, Germany – Spring Mann Gallery. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Cannes Film Festival – Projection of Women Are Heroes (May 18). ^{[ Citation needed ]}

2011

• Miami, FL – Art Basel, Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery, “Wall and Papers”. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Paris, France – Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery, “Encrages”. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• JR’s film Women Are Heroes released in movie theaters. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Paris – Pompidou Centre – exhibition and Inside Out Project photobooth Installation. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Los Angeles, CA – Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles – Art in the Streets. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – “Emirati Expressions”. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Arles, France – Rencontres d’Arles – exhibition and evening show (Théâtre Antique Arles). ^{[ Citation needed ]}

2012

• Vevey, Switzerland – Images Festival. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Hong Kong, China – Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

2013

• Tokyo, Japan – Watari-Um Museum. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Berlin, Germany – Spring Mann Gallery. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Marseille, France – Friche La Belle de Mai. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• New York, New York – Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, The wrinkles of the City: Havana, Cuba with Jose Parla. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• New York, New York – Inside Out Project installation and photobooth in Times Square. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Cincinnati, OH – Contemporary Arts Center ^[53]

2014

• Baden Baden, Germany – Museum Frieder Burda. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Paris – Au Panthéon! An installation by JR from Collected 2,500 selfies / portraits Collected prolongation the month of March 2014 with his traveling photo booth truck across France and the world, displayed for his artwork at the newly restored Pantheon in Paris, France; a Secular temple in Paris where the famous are buried.
• Dallas – Dallas Contemporary .
• Shanghai – Magda Danysz Gallery .
• Shanghai – Power Station of Art.

2015

• Hong Kong – HOCA: Inside Out Project , JR: a survey exhibition. ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Hong Kong – Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin . ^{[ Citation needed ]}
• Boston, MA – translucent pasting on glass or the John Hancock Tower , stress from the 44th to the 50th floors ^[54]
• Malaga, Spain – CAC.
• Paris – Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin .
• Lille, France – Tri Postal.
• Toronto – Nuit Blanche.
• London – Lazarides.
• Tokyo – Watari-Um Museum.

2016

• Paris – Centre Pompidou .
• Paris – The Louvre . From May 25 to June 27, JR Transformed the Louvre Pyramid using one or his anamorphic images. ^[55] When seen from the right angle, the Pyramid seemed to disappear. ^[56]

Awards

On 20 October 2010, JR was awarded the TED Prize for 2011. ^{[1] [2]}

Prizes Attributed to the film Faces Gerard Maximin on the Face2Face project by JR and Marco:

Prizes for the film Faces

festivals	Places	Country	Awards
IDFA	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Joris Ivens Selection
FIFDH	Geneva	switzerland	Special Mention of the Jury
Open Doek Festival	Turnhout	belgium	Documentary Film Award
International Festival of Muslim Films	Kazan	Russia	Documentary Film Award
Festival Europeen 4 Ecrans	Paris	france	5 Nominations
FFDPM – Human Rights Festival	Montreal	Canada	Festival Prize
CMCA – Film Méditerannéen	Marseille	france	Art and Culture Award
CMCA – Film Méditerannean	Marseille	france	TV5 Monde Award
SCAM	Paris	france	SCAM Star

Publications

iPad app

• 2013: Free App of includes photographs and videos of all JR’s international projects, with interactive features.

Books

• Carnet de Rue , Edition Free Press, 2004.
• Portraits of a Generation , Editions Alternatives, 2005.
• Face 2 Face , Editions Alternatives, 2007.
• JR / 28 Millimeters, a journey through JR’s 28mm projects , Editions Lazarides Gallery, London, 2008.
• JR , Editions Pyramyd 2009.
• Women are Heroes by JR , Editions Alternatives 2009.
• ” The wrinkles of the City: Shanghai “, Drago , 2011.
• “Women are Heroes”, Harry N. Abrams, 2012.
• ” The wrinkles of the City: Los Angeles ” at JR and Louise Berrebi, Drago , 2012. iBook version released in 2013
• “JR & Jose Parla: The wrinkles of the City, Havana, Cuba” Damiani / Standard Press; Bilingual Edition, 2013.

Books with contributions from JR

• Outsiders, Art to People. Century, 2008. Compiled by Steve Lazarides .
• Qu’est ce que la PHOTOS. Paris: Beaux Arts / TTM 2009.
• 60 Innovators Shaping our Creative Future. London: Thames & Hudson , 2009.
• Beyond the Street, The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art. Shapes 2010.
• Instaphotographers 2014. Jeremy Leclerc, 2014.

References