JR

Why this artist matters now

Street artist JR posts giant, monochrome photographs of faces around cities—on rooftops, in church windows and along the sides of buses. “Portrait d’une Generation” (2004-6) featured images of the young immigrants from the much-maligned Paris suburbs posing for the camera to prove that they are as approachable and friendly as native Parisians. For his series “Face 2 Face” (2007), JR pasted huge images of Jews and Palestinians on the border wall running the length of the disputed areas between Israel and Palestine and for “Women Are Heroes” (2008), JR relocated to Sierra Leone and Liberia where he created happy, joyful images of local women, in contrast to the usual images of Africa that depict grief and despair. In 2011 JR won a $100,000 Ted Prize for changing the world.

Source: Artsy · Trust score: 85% · Updated 1mo ago