JR

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JR creates monumental public art projects that inspire passersby to ask questions and confront their own perceptions. His first large-scale project, Portrait of a Generation (2004-06), drew attention to the media’s clichéd and prejudiced portrayals of youth from Parisian suburbs by pasting the portraits of adolescents contorting their faces into whimsical grimaces.

He soon expanded his scope, traveling to conflict zones to amplify the stories of everyday people and foster dialogue. For his Face 2 Face project (2007), he took portraits of Israelis and Palestinians who shared the same profession and pasted the images in pairs along the Separation Wall. His artistic process transforms walls from a force of division to a place for social connection. He installed Kikito (2017), a gigantic toddler peeking over the US-Mexico border fence, and hosted a picnic around the huge eyes of a Dreamer across the border. For his Tehachapi projects (2019-22), he worked alongside incarcerated men in a supermax prison to create art installations inside the courtyard. (...)