JR

Maverick French artist JR is a self-styled ‘photograffeur’, papering outsized posters into unauthorised public spaces in an echo of graffiti art. Motivated by reaching people who might not step into a gallery, he began his career with a camera he found on the Paris Metro, photographing residents of housing project Les Bosquets and pasting them across the city. Now a worldwide superstar, he continues to document people who might otherwise be overlooked, shining a light on them through large-scale social justice projects.

Did you know?

In 2016, JR used paper to create a real-time illusion that made the Louvre’s famous pyramid disappear.

Country of Birth

France

Auction Record

€101,400

Delivery in Monrovia, Liberia

Artcurial

2020

Collections

Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

Exhibitions

O papel da mão, Nara Roesler, São Paulo, BR, 2023
JR: Chronicles, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK, 2021
JR: Chronicles, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA, 2019
Le secret de la grande pyramide, Exposition Cour Napoléon du Louvre, Paris, FR, 2019
Chroniques de Clichy-Montfermeil, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR, 2017
Art In the Streets, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA, 2011
CA - Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, USA, 2010

Editorial

Artists

28 Jun 2022

Fair Game | The Artists Highlighting Inequality

Can art be a force for change? Below, we take a look at five pioneering artists raising issues around poverty...
Artists

24 Jun 2021

Five Things You Should Know About | JR

To celebrate the opening of JR:Chronicles at the Saatchi Gallery on June 4, we thought we’d take a closer look...
Artists

25 Feb 2021

Arty Political Broadcasts

Though galleries and museums remain shut in many parts of the world, art is playing a crucial part in the...
News

01 Nov 2018

JR Teams Up with TIME Magazine to Tackle America's Gun Debate

35,000 gun-related deaths a year. 73,500 non-fatal gun-related injuries. 245 Americans come together in JR and TIME magazine's latest survey...