JR (photographer)

Work

Clandestine photographer, JR can be regarded as a artivist (contraction of the words - artist - and - activist -) for which the street is a universal art gallery and the city the ground of actions of great width. Since 2001, from Paris to Los Angeles while passing by Montfermeil - Clichy-sous-Bois or Jerusalem, JR is author of many “wild” exposures (or EXPO 2 RUE), which consist in sticking its photographs on the walls in the shape of posters large size.

The name “JR” corresponds to initial of the artist, who chose not to reveal his identity. It appears always masked at the time of its public interventions, with the manner of the majority of the urban artists underground who cultivate the anonymity and the use of the Pseudonyme by fear of repression and to preserve their independence.

JR begins the Photographie in 2000 when it finds an apparatus lost in the Parisian Métropolitain. It starts by photographing the graffiteurs in action, then decides in its turn to invest the walls of the French capital: “ When I made the photographs on the graffiteurs, I could not allow me to spin truths to them pullings of my photographs, I did not have myself of it besides. Thus I made photocopied pullings and I passed to them. As times I drew too much from it, I replaced the pubs in the panels “insert communication city” by my photographs. I had much return of these postings, I then started to carry out the force of the street and I said myself that it was necessary to go further. I quickly passed to the adhesive and bends painting for dissociating well my step of that of the advertizing executives. ”. The first EXPO 2 RUE are posed on the walls of Paris in 2001.

“the concept of expo 2 rue was born from a very simple report: photography, a universal art, is locked up in the galleries and the musés.
Si much of people are interested closely in it or by far, less and less make the step go to see expos… While exposing in the street I touch everyone and my gallery is open 24:00 on 24… on the other hand I cannot ensure the completion date…”

Since 2001, it directed its objective on various communities of styles (graffiteurs, breakdancers, freeriders…), lent its eye to Vincent Cassel (Sheitan), Kourtrajmé or Gotan Project. From 2004, he works on 28 millimetres of which the first opus - portrait of a generation - offers the One of the New York Times to him. The portraits LARGE SIZES of the young people of Montfermeil and Clichy-sous-Bois are in particular exposed on the walls of the European House of Photography and on the square of the Town hall in Paris.

Whereas its photographs start to be sold with the Drouot Hotel, it continues to develop projects of wild exposures LARGE SIZES as in Rome and Wuppertal (Germany). It currently finishes the second stage of the project 28 millimetres in the Middle East and prepares the following one in Brazil.

JR thinks of novel modes of exposure systematically including the urban space, whose choice of the streets and the sites must reveal the direction of the photographs that it sticks there. It voluntarily keeps away from the cultural institutions which it requests only when they give an added-value to the projects (vidéos, installations…).

Work

Stereotypes of Ghetto

In September 2004, JR is invited to Montfermeil by Ladj Ly, a friend actor and realizer of the collective of artists Kourtrajmé, to placard without authorization on the walls of the City of the Thickets a score of posters large size representing of the inhabitants of the district. It decides to organize a varnishing of the exposure which it announces to the press, snook addressed to Parisian accustomed to leaving the capital for the suburbs little. The town hall of Montfermeil, initially reticent, carries felt sorry for against X but withdraws it in front of the success of the event. The posters still visible, are only degraded by the bad weather and the natural wear of paper.

Notebook of street

Notebook of Street is a book of photographs published into 2005 with the editions Free Press, which gathers stereotypes of urban activists several countries in action (the United States, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain…). The video which recalls this 6 months tour is visionnable on its site.

28 millimetres

28 millimetres is a concept that JR adapts to the contexts which it meets in the countries where its projects proceed. Using an objective 28 millimetres, it carries out portraits grimaçants local populations, which it develops and sticks in the streets in the shape of GIANT posters. The asserted objective is to fight the stereotypes maintained by the imaginary collective and relayed by our company of information.

''' 28 millimetres - portrait of a generation ''' (2006) constitutes the first stage of the project. Following the first wild exposure on the walls of the City of Thickets JR settles in full heart of this district and the City close of Forest at Clichy-sous-Bois, epicentres of the events which have occurred in the French suburbs in November 2005. Quickly, the first portraits are exposed on the walls of the Parisian east, last popular quarters today and holiday places of residence of the sores to the shelter of the flames.   The book 28 millimetres - portrait of a generation, published to the Alternate Editions (2006) gives an account of the step. Moreover, the project was presented on the walls of the European House of Photography and on the square of the Town hall in Paris, like in several places in Stockholm, Los Angeles and in Canada.

This work inspired the exposure “Clichy without stereotypes”, which gathered the great figures of current photography such as William Klein, Jean-Louis Courtinat, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Paolo Roversi, Sarah Moon…

''' 28 millimetres - Face2Face, Israelis and Palestinians - Portraits off twins brothers ''' (2007) is also finished. For this new shutter of the project conceived with Marco, JR carries out portraits of Israelis and Palestinian exerting the same trade to expose them face to face, on the two sides of/the end partition wall of safety. Same manner, these portraits are stuck in several cities of the Palestinian territories, the West Bank and Israel (Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haïfa…). This action made object of no authorization on behalf of the authorities Palestinian and Israeli. Through this step, JR and Marco act in favor of a solution in which two States, Israel and Palestine, would live in peace inside sour and internationally recognized borders.

A new book with the Alternate Editions is in preparation (June 2007), as well as documentary which will reconsider this stage of the project.

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