JR, the photographer of walls, exhibits in New York
i24NEWS ·
The 3 Minutes POP at the Perrotin gallery in New York, where JR has set down his bags for the summer. "No need to introduce JR, the renowned artist and photographer, 'photograffeur' as he likes to call himself," French by origin, who first found success through gigantic installations around the world, "from the favelas of Rio to the rooftops of Paris." The most astonishing piece in the exhibition: his work built into electric trains which, as they go back and forth, form the face or the eye of a person captured by JR. "It's easy to watch and it's addictive, believe me." His installations are most often a social experiment: photographing residents and "showing the true face of a neighborhood, of neighbors, of the best enemy across the street," as on the border between the United States and Mexico, where neighbors gathered around an impromptu banquet. Asked about the meeting of current events and his work, JR answers: "what interests me most in an artist's work is raising questions, not giving answers." With the big table set up at the border and the giant child looking over the wall, people came, talked and exchanged across the wall. JR never goes anywhere without his glasses and his hat: "it's not as extreme as Daft Punk, but it's just as effective," which lets him put the spotlight on those who are rarely featured. With an interview of JR. David Benaym's 3 Minutes POP in Benjamin Petrover's “C'été l'info”, i24NEWS in French, July 10, 2018.