JR, the anonymous french street artist who won the TED prize in 2011, has begun in covering the City of Light of his tags. In 1990. He finds by chance a 28 mm on the tube in Paris. Quickly dexterous with his camera, he becomes well-known for upsetting the established order.
After the huge riot of 2005 in Paris JR takes pictures with his 28 mm lens of the so-called dangerous suburban making scary faces to play the caricature of themselves and then pastes the portraits of them throughout Paris. He says that his work is not politically engaged but socially. While maintaining his anonymity, discretion being his visa to travel and allows him to continue to paste his giant size pictures illegally on the streets.
He directs the Face to Face project in 2007 taking huge portraits of palestinians and israelis people doing the same job and then pastes them cheek-by-jowl in both side of the wall of separation as a message of hope using the absurd, derision and humor, pushing us to ask ourselves front of the strength of the images. He does not try to change the world but stop our looks and provoke something in us. Using the street and the two cities to bring people together, he creates a link with all these people through the artistic exchange. In this specific case it is not a traditional street art anymore, the base is the same but the technique is different, the art becomes participative.
JR, the unsual reporter is already compared to a Cartier Bresson, with his portraitures he emerges from the shadows the victims of the society around the world.
In 2011 the documentary Women are heros comes out, it shows women in their struggle and survival in conflict zones in Africa, India and Brazil. The portraits of these women are pasted in their villages in exaggerated version which gives this timeless impression. This documentary reveals that even if women have difficulties to exist in these cultures and societies taken and dominated by men they have a great vitality. These photographs give a proof of their existence. Through JR' photographs our look at these women have changed.
JR does not bring any answer but raises questions.
Reading and viewing:
TED website: http://www.ted.com/talks/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html
JR website: http://www.jr-art.net/
Banksy & JR Des murs à la toile snatch magazine december/january 2011 p130-136
