JR

JR

biographY

JR has the largest art gallery in the world. Thanks to his photographic collage technique, he exhibits his work free of charge on the walls of the whole world – attracting the attention of those who do not usually go to museums.

Originator of the 28 Millimeters Project which he started in and around Clichy-Montfermeil in 2004, continued in the Middle East with Face 2 Face (2007), in Brazil and Kenya for Women Are Heroes (2008-2011), the documentary for which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 (Critics’ Week).

JR has created “Infiltrating art”. During his collage activities, the local communities take part in the act of artistic creation, with no stage separating actors from spectators. The anonymity of JR and the absence of any explanation accompanying his huge portraits leave him with a free space in which issues and actors, performers and passers-by meet, forming the essence of his work.

In 2011 he received the Ted Prize, giving him the opportunity to make a vow to change the world. He created Inside Out, an international participatory art project that allows people from around the world to receive a print of their portrait and then billboard it as support for an idea, a project, an action and share that experience.

In 2014, working with the New York City Ballet, he used the language of dance to tell his version of the riots in the Clichy-Montfermeil district. He created The Groves, a ballet and short film, the music for which was composed by Woodkid, Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams, and which was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival.

At the same time, JR worked in the abandoned hospital of Ellis Island, an important place in the history of immigration – and made the short film ELLIS, with Robert De Niro.

In 2016, JR was invited by the Louvre, whose pyramid he made disappear the with the help of an astonishing anamorphosis. The same year, during the Olympic Games in Rio, he created gigantic new sculptural installations throughout the city, to underline the beauty of the sporting gesture.

In 2017, he co-directed with Agnès Varda “Faces, Place”s, screened the same year in the official selection out of competition for the Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Golden Eye (for best documentary) and was nominated for a Caesar and an Oscar in the same category in 2018. He has received other awards around the world.

In 2013, the first retrospectives of JR’s work took place in Tokyo (at the Watari-Um Museum) and the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, followed by exhibitions at the Frieder Burda Museum in Baden Baden in 2014, and at the HOCA Foundation in Hong Kong in 2015. He exhibited in 2018 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and in 2019 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the Brooklyn Museum.

JR is represented by Perrotin, PACE Gallery, Galleria Continua and Nara Roesler.

SEries

Déplacé.e.s, 2022

Série | In 2022, JR displayed huge portraits of children affected by war on the ground of big cities in several different countries, starting with Lviv, Ukraine.

Australia - Homily to Country, 2021

Series | Homily to Country draws attention to the ecological decline of the Darling River (Baaka), Australia’s third longest river, caused by intensive water extraction due to irrigation, climate change and drought.

Tehachapi, California (USA), 2019

In October 2019, French artist JR created a one-of-a-kind art activation within the walls of California Correctional Institution: Tehachapi in Southern California - a maximum security 4 facility.

Chroniques, 2017 - 2019

In 2017, JR started a series of epic participatory murals, inspired by the work of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957). Each work entailed photographing and filming hundreds of people, alone or in groups, and then collaging their portraits together to create a narrative and highly-realistic composition that dealt with a place or social issue.

JR at the Louvre Museum, 2016-2019

From May 25th to June 27th, 2016, invited by the "world's largest museum", JR chose to make it disappear one of its symbols, the pyramid of the Louvre, thanks to an unexpected anamorphosis.

Migrants, 2017

On October the 8th, on the last day of JR's installation on the border between Mexico and the United States, he organized a giant picnic on both sides of the wall.

Giants, 2016 - 2023

Giants est une série d’installations photographiques monumentales créées in situ sur des échafaudages, inaugurée lors des Jeux Olympiques à Rio en 2016.

The Wrinkles of the City, 2008-2015

The Wrinkles of the City is a project presented in various cities around the world where “wrinkles”, human as well as architectural, can be found.

Ballet, 2015

Serie |

UNFRAMED, 2009-2014

Série | Unframed is an ongoing project since 2009, realized using images by famous or anonymous photographers and archival images that JR interprets and takes out of their context depending on the place, neighborhood or city he works in.

Women Are Heroes, 2008-2014

Serie | Women play an essential role in society but, travelling in conflict zones, JR realized that they are often the primary victims of war, crime, rape and political or religious fanaticism.

Inside Out, 2011-2014

Serie | The concept of the project is to give everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and a statement of what they stand for, with the world. IOP provides individuals and groups from all corners of the globe with a vehicle to make a statement.

Face 2 face, 2007

Serie | The Face2Face project is to make portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same job and to post them face to face, in huge formats, in unavoidable places, on the Israeli and the Palestinian sides.

Portrait of generation, 2006

Serie | In 2004, in search of places where no-one would expect to see art, JR held his first exhibition on the walls of Les Bosquets, the ‘ghetto’ of Montfermeil, a suburb of Paris.

Expo 2 Rue, 2000-2006

Serie | JR began his career as a teenage graffiti artist interested in making his mark on public space and society. His graffiti often targeted precarious places like rooftops and subway trains, and he deeply enjoyed the adventure of going to and painting in these spaces.

Déplacé.e.s, 2022

Série | In 2022, JR displayed huge portraits of children affected by war on the ground of big cities in several different countries, starting with Lviv, Ukraine.

Australia - Homily to Country, 2021

Series | Homily to Country draws attention to the ecological decline of the Darling River (Baaka), Australia’s third longest river, caused by intensive water extraction due to irrigation, climate change and drought.

Tehachapi, California (USA), 2019

In October 2019, French artist JR created a one-of-a-kind art activation within the walls of California Correctional Institution: Tehachapi in Southern California - a maximum security 4 facility.

Chroniques, 2017 - 2019

In 2017, JR started a series of epic participatory murals, inspired by the work of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957). Each work entailed photographing and filming hundreds of people, alone or in groups, and then collaging their portraits together to create a narrative and highly-realistic composition that dealt with a place or social issue.

JR at the Louvre Museum, 2016-2019

From May 25th to June 27th, 2016, invited by the "world's largest museum", JR chose to make it disappear one of its symbols, the pyramid of the Louvre, thanks to an unexpected anamorphosis.

Migrants, 2017

On October the 8th, on the last day of JR's installation on the border between Mexico and the United States, he organized a giant picnic on both sides of the wall.

Giants, 2016 - 2023

Giants est une série d’installations photographiques monumentales créées in situ sur des échafaudages, inaugurée lors des Jeux Olympiques à Rio en 2016.

The Wrinkles of the City, 2008-2015

The Wrinkles of the City is a project presented in various cities around the world where “wrinkles”, human as well as architectural, can be found.

Ballet, 2015

Serie |

UNFRAMED, 2009-2014

Série | Unframed is an ongoing project since 2009, realized using images by famous or anonymous photographers and archival images that JR interprets and takes out of their context depending on the place, neighborhood or city he works in.

Women Are Heroes, 2008-2014

Serie | Women play an essential role in society but, travelling in conflict zones, JR realized that they are often the primary victims of war, crime, rape and political or religious fanaticism.

Inside Out, 2011-2014

Serie | The concept of the project is to give everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and a statement of what they stand for, with the world. IOP provides individuals and groups from all corners of the globe with a vehicle to make a statement.

Face 2 face, 2007

Serie | The Face2Face project is to make portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same job and to post them face to face, in huge formats, in unavoidable places, on the Israeli and the Palestinian sides.

Portrait of generation, 2006

Serie | In 2004, in search of places where no-one would expect to see art, JR held his first exhibition on the walls of Les Bosquets, the ‘ghetto’ of Montfermeil, a suburb of Paris.

Expo 2 Rue, 2000-2006

Serie | JR began his career as a teenage graffiti artist interested in making his mark on public space and society. His graffiti often targeted precarious places like rooftops and subway trains, and he deeply enjoyed the adventure of going to and painting in these spaces.

Déplacé.e.s, 2022

Série | In 2022, JR displayed huge portraits of children affected by war on the ground of big cities in several different countries, starting with Lviv, Ukraine.

Australia - Homily to Country, 2021

Series | Homily to Country draws attention to the ecological decline of the Darling River (Baaka), Australia’s third longest river, caused by intensive water extraction due to irrigation, climate change and drought.

Tehachapi, California (USA), 2019

In October 2019, French artist JR created a one-of-a-kind art activation within the walls of California Correctional Institution: Tehachapi in Southern California - a maximum security 4 facility.

Chroniques, 2017 - 2019

In 2017, JR started a series of epic participatory murals, inspired by the work of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957). Each work entailed photographing and filming hundreds of people, alone or in groups, and then collaging their portraits together to create a narrative and highly-realistic composition that dealt with a place or social issue.

JR at the Louvre Museum, 2016-2019

From May 25th to June 27th, 2016, invited by the "world's largest museum", JR chose to make it disappear one of its symbols, the pyramid of the Louvre, thanks to an unexpected anamorphosis.

Migrants, 2017

On October the 8th, on the last day of JR's installation on the border between Mexico and the United States, he organized a giant picnic on both sides of the wall.

Giants, 2016 - 2023

Giants est une série d’installations photographiques monumentales créées in situ sur des échafaudages, inaugurée lors des Jeux Olympiques à Rio en 2016.

The Wrinkles of the City, 2008-2015

The Wrinkles of the City is a project presented in various cities around the world where “wrinkles”, human as well as architectural, can be found.

Ballet, 2015

Serie |

UNFRAMED, 2009-2014

Série | Unframed is an ongoing project since 2009, realized using images by famous or anonymous photographers and archival images that JR interprets and takes out of their context depending on the place, neighborhood or city he works in.

Women Are Heroes, 2008-2014

Serie | Women play an essential role in society but, travelling in conflict zones, JR realized that they are often the primary victims of war, crime, rape and political or religious fanaticism.

Inside Out, 2011-2014

Serie | The concept of the project is to give everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and a statement of what they stand for, with the world. IOP provides individuals and groups from all corners of the globe with a vehicle to make a statement.

Face 2 face, 2007

Serie | The Face2Face project is to make portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same job and to post them face to face, in huge formats, in unavoidable places, on the Israeli and the Palestinian sides.

Portrait of generation, 2006

Serie | In 2004, in search of places where no-one would expect to see art, JR held his first exhibition on the walls of Les Bosquets, the ‘ghetto’ of Montfermeil, a suburb of Paris.

Expo 2 Rue, 2000-2006

Serie | JR began his career as a teenage graffiti artist interested in making his mark on public space and society. His graffiti often targeted precarious places like rooftops and subway trains, and he deeply enjoyed the adventure of going to and painting in these spaces.

movies

Tehachapi, 2023
–

In October 2019, JR received unprecedented access to carry out a project in one of California’s most violent high-security prisons: Tehachapi. There, he met a group of 28 incarcerated men and, together, they created a huge mural that transformed the prison yard.

JR’s new documentary, Tehachapi, follows the monumental art projects he carried out with these men over the course of three years. The film reveals how art can serve as a unifying and hopeful force, demonstrating the capacity of each individual to change, and offers a poignant look at humanity behind bars.

After being presented at the Telluride Film Festival 2023, Tehachapi will be released in French cinemas on 12 June 2024.

Paper & Glue, 2021
–
In Paper & Glue, JR turns the camera on his own work as he builds some of his most monumental projects. From early illicit graffiti videos captured on Paris rooftops at night, to the US-Mexico border, to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to a current collaboration at a California supermax prison, the film follows JR as he turns these communities inside out, turning images of residents into social and immersive art installations.
The documentary will be released in the US on 12 November 2021, followed by a primetime premiere on MSNBC in January 2022.

JR at the Louvre Museum & The secret of the great pyramid, 2019
–
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Louvre Pyramid, JR created a collaborative piece of art on the scale of the Napoleon Court. Three years after having made the Pyramid disappear, the artist brought a new light to the famed monument by realizing a gigantic collage, thanks to the help of 400 volunteers !

Each day hundreds of volunteers came to help cut and paste the 2000 strips of paper, making it the biggest pasting ever done by the artist.

The images, like life, are ephemeral. Once pasted, the art piece lives on its own. The sun dries the light glue and with every step, people tear pieces of the fragile paper. The process is all about participation of volunteers, visitors, and souvenir catchers. This project is also about presence and absence, about reality and memories, about impermanence.

Faces Places, 2017
–
Agnès Varda and JR have points in common: passion and questioning about images in general and more precisely about the places and devices for showing, sharing and exhibiting them.

Agnès has chosen cinema.

JR has chosen to create open-air photo galleries.

When Agnès and JR met in 2015, they immediately felt like working together, shooting a film in France, far from the cities, travelling with JR’s (and magical) photographic truck.

Chance encounters or prepared projects, they went towards others, listened to them, photographed them and sometimes displayed them.

The film also tells the story of their friendship that grew during the shooting, between surprises and teasing, laughing at the differences.

Kizito – Tecate, Mexico, 2017
–
Following news about the intention to construct a permanent wall between the United States and Mexico, in 2017 JR created a gigantic installation supported by scaffolding at the border fence in the Mexican city of Tecate. The installation shows Kikito, a toddler whose house in Tecate overlooks the border fence, playfully peeking over the fence from his side, which meant that the piece could be better appreciated from the United States.

« Les Bosquets » ballet – New York City Ballet, 2014
–
The video piece Les Bosquets takes us to a place where art, social uproar and the power of image collide.

After the ballet Les Bosquets presented by the New York City Ballet (2014), inspired by the 2005 riots in the French ghettos, JR reveals his experience within the community of the Bosquets in Montfermeil, where his first art project (Portrait of a Generation) took place. This film stems from the original project by applying various modes of expression and narration: video archive, choreography and personal testimony.

With music composed by Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer and Wookid, JR shows how the desire to exist in these ghettos can overcome the precariousness of life and create beauty where one would no longer expect it

Ellis – Teaser, 2014
–
This is the trailer for ELLIS, a short film starring Robert De Niro, written by Eric Roth, directed by JR.

The short narrative film, ELLIS, awakens our collective memory. Leaving their past behind them, immigrants fleeing poverty, discrimination, dictatorship arrived there. Ellis Island was the gateway to the United States for millions of immigrants. Upon arrival, they were processed, approved or denied access. Due to sickness or simply tiredness, many were placed in the hospital. A purgatory of sorts, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, where thousands of men, women and children awaited their fate.

ELLIS tells the forgotten story of these immigrants who built America while questioning about those who currently seek the same opportunities and safety in this country and other parts of the world.

The short film stars Academy Award Winner Robert De Niro, was written by Academy Award winner Eric Roth and directed by the artist JR whose Unframed art installations in the abandoned Hospital complex serve as the set for this powerful and timely film.

The Wrinkles of the City – La Havana – Cuba, 2012
–
In May 2012, JR collaborates with Cuban-American artist José Parlá on the latest iteration of The Wrinkles of the City: a huge mural installation in Havana, undertaken for the Havana Biennale, for which JR and Parlá photographed and recorded 25 senior citizens who had lived through the Cuban revolution, creating portraits which Parlá, who is of Cuban descent, interlaced with palimpsestic calligraphic writings and paintings.

Parlá’s markings echo the distressed surfaces of the walls he inscribes, and offer commentary on the lives of Cuba’s elders; together, JR and Parlá’s murals marvelously animate a city whose walls are otherwise adorned only by images of its leaders

Directed by JR and José Parlá

Women are Heroes, 2010
–
In Women Are Heroes, JR introduces women who sometimes look death in the face, who go from laughter to tears, who are generous, have nothing and yet share, who have had a painful past and long to build a happy future. This is the trailer of the feature documentary film released in France in 2010.

Women Are Heroes is a project with many images and little words. JR’s intention is to highlight the dignity of women who occupy crucial roles in societies, and find themselves victims of wartime, street crime, sexual assault, and religious and political extremism. This project takes place in Africa, Brazil, India and Cambodia.

BOOKS

JR – PARIS

Maison CF - 2023

Quel âge as-tu ?

Phaidon Jeunesse - 2021

Tehachapi

Éditions Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2020

The chronicles of New York City

Chronicles Books - 2019

The chronicles of San Francisco

Chronicles Books - 2019

Chronicles

Edition Maison CF - 2019

Wrinkles

Phaidon - 2019

Can art change the world ?

Phaidon - 2019

JR – GIANTS OG RIO

Actes Sud - 2018

Momentum, la mécanique de l'épreuve

Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2018

Inside Out

Rizzoli - 2017

Wrinkles of the city - Des rides et des villes

Editions Alternatives - 2015

Dans l’objectif de JR

Pyramides Editions - 2015

The Ghost of Ellis Island

Damiani - 2015

Unframed : Belle de Mai

Éditions Alternatives - 2013

Wrinkles of the City : Shanghai

Drago Editions - 2012

28 millimètres

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Artocratie en Tunisie

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Women are heroes

Éditions Alternatives - 2009

FACE 2 FACE

Éditions Alternatives - 2007

JR – PARIS

Maison CF - 2023

Quel âge as-tu ?

Phaidon Jeunesse - 2021

Tehachapi

Éditions Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2020

The chronicles of New York City

Chronicles Books - 2019

The chronicles of San Francisco

Chronicles Books - 2019

Chronicles

Edition Maison CF - 2019

Wrinkles

Phaidon - 2019

Can art change the world ?

Phaidon - 2019

JR – GIANTS OG RIO

Actes Sud - 2018

Momentum, la mécanique de l'épreuve

Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2018

Inside Out

Rizzoli - 2017

Wrinkles of the city - Des rides et des villes

Editions Alternatives - 2015

Dans l’objectif de JR

Pyramides Editions - 2015

The Ghost of Ellis Island

Damiani - 2015

Unframed : Belle de Mai

Éditions Alternatives - 2013

Wrinkles of the City : Shanghai

Drago Editions - 2012

28 millimètres

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Artocratie en Tunisie

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Women are heroes

Éditions Alternatives - 2009

FACE 2 FACE

Éditions Alternatives - 2007

JR – PARIS

Maison CF - 2023

Quel âge as-tu ?

Phaidon Jeunesse - 2021

Tehachapi

Éditions Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2020

The chronicles of New York City

Chronicles Books - 2019

The chronicles of San Francisco

Chronicles Books - 2019

Chronicles

Edition Maison CF - 2019

Wrinkles

Phaidon - 2019

Can art change the world ?

Phaidon - 2019

JR – GIANTS OG RIO

Actes Sud - 2018

Momentum, la mécanique de l'épreuve

Clémentine de la Féronnière - 2018

Inside Out

Rizzoli - 2017

Wrinkles of the city - Des rides et des villes

Editions Alternatives - 2015

Dans l’objectif de JR

Pyramides Editions - 2015

The Ghost of Ellis Island

Damiani - 2015

Unframed : Belle de Mai

Éditions Alternatives - 2013

Wrinkles of the City : Shanghai

Drago Editions - 2012

28 millimètres

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Artocratie en Tunisie

Éditions Alternatives - 2011

Women are heroes

Éditions Alternatives - 2009

FACE 2 FACE

Éditions Alternatives - 2007