JR AROUND THE WORLD
MAGDA DANYSZ GALLERY
Los Surcos de la Ciudad, Cartagena, Spain
Precious relic of the passage of time, age appears on the walls of Cartagena, Spain, in the fall of 2008. The oldest inhabitants of this Spanish town are pasted on the heights of the city. Faces of men that suffered from the civil war stand on the historical facades.
Los Surcos de la Ciudad, Marino Saura Oton, Cartagena, Espagne, 2008 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 270 x 180 cm Edition 2 Edition of 3 + 2AP
The Wrinkles of The City, Shanghai The Wrinkles of the City / Les sillons de la ville / Los Surcos de a Ciudad /城市肌理, is a world scale project. For this project, JR starts by doing portraits of elderly people who represent the memory of the city he picks for its interesting past. Conjunctly JR interviews each person as they are the witnesses of all the changes the city went through. Then these portraits, printed in monumental sizes, are pasted in the very same city in various places that inspire JR and also represent the city heritage. For memory can stumble and fall, disappear any minute as the elder leave us, JR shows us that it is important not to forget what the elder have to pass to the young ones. Without judging, JR just gives us bits of History pages in an artistic, yet poetic, social and above all human way.JR takes his Wrinkles of the City project to Shanghai where the last century has been full of ups and downs : from the Japanese occupation, the establishment of the Communist Party, The Liberation, World War II, the end of the foreign concessions, the victory of Mao Zedong over the General Tchang Kaï-Chek’s troops, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward to the actual development of the city ...
Previous page : The Wrinkles of the City, Action in Shanghai, Shi Li, horizontale, Chine, 2010 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 125 x 180 cm Edition 3
This page : The Wrinkles of the City, Action in Shanghai, Xiao Genfa, Chine, 2010 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 1 25 cm x 180 cm Edition 3
The Wrinkles of the City, Action in Shanghai, Bei Waitan, Chine, 2010 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 1 25 x 180 cm Edition 3
THE WRINKLES OF THE CITY, Wu Zhengzhu Shanghai, China - 2010 B&W print on basic paper, pasted on corrugated sheet, mat varnish 200 x 190 cm Unique piece Custom made unique piece on corrugated Titled and hand signed in back on a label and on the frame
THE WRINKLES OF THE CITY, Shi Li Shanghai, China - 2010 B&W print on basic paper, pasted on corrugated sheet, mat varnish 300 x 190 cm unique piece Custom made unique piece on corrugated Titled and hand signed in back on a label and on the frame
WRINKLES OF THE CITY, Los Angeles The Wrinkles of the City is a world-scale project aimed to be presented in various cities around the world where human wrinkles as well as architectural, can be found. Before Los Angeles, JR has pasted The Wrinkles of the City in Cartagena, Spain (2008) and in Shanghai, China (2010). In Spanish, the project is entitled Los Surcos de la Ciudad. Los Angeles is quite a new city, the second largest in the United States. Following Cartagena and Shanghai, JR wants to bring his Wrinkles of the City project to Los Angeles in 2011. This time, the purpose of the project isn>t to meet witnesses of the changes that have occurred in the city or in their own lifes. Los Angeles is the place where the Hollywood myth was born, with its stars system, the glamour and the beauty being part of the identity of the city. For this project, JR wishes to oppose the wrinkles of old people living in LA and the marks of their past with the image of perfection or regenerated beauty in the XXIst century. For instance, in Southern California, plastic surgery is no longer a luxury but a lifestyle. It is now socially accepted, above all cultural and social barriers. With this approach, the most interesting part of the project is to spread these old wrinkled portraits in the city, using the gigantic urban development as a huge canvas. Contrary to Cartagena or Shanghai, JR wont paste on ruins or destoyed walls and buildings. The city is considered by planners and geographers as a forerunner and model for the development of American metropoles. The «City of Angels» appears as a laboratory of «urban postmodernism», that offers large new and recent walls to paste downtown and all around the suburbs. Considering JRÍs way of working, Los Angeles could become a real open air museum.
The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles, Moca museum, USA, 2011 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 125 cm x 180 cm Edition 1
The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles, Carl in Silverlake, Vertical, USA, 2011 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 180 x 125 cm Edition 1
The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles, Michael Downtown, USA, 2012 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 125 x 180 cm Edition 2
The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles, Tuangpet and her sunglasses , USA, 2012 color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminium 125 x 180 cm Edition 2
UNFRAMED - Vevey Unframed is a new urban project created for the city of Vevey, co-produced by the Images festival and the Musée de l>Élysée in Lausanne. It is a first in his career: JR has previously always worked with his own photographs, but this time he has immersed himself in the collections of the Musée de l>Élysée. By reinterpreting and taking the works out of context, he gives the history of photography a new meaning and allows us to revisit works by Robert Capa, Gilles Caron, Helen Levitt, Mario Giacomelli, as well as anonymous photographers. Reframed and stretched on the outdoor facades that serve as exhibition walls, the city is transformed into a gigantic open-sky museum. These icons and their references, diverted in this manner, now take on a new meaning. Their setting in the public space adds a geographical dimension to their historical references. As for the visitor, with a sense of déjà vu, he discovers, on the corner of a street, the power of JR>s architectural pictures.
UNFRAMED, Lehnert & Landrock revu par JR, «Egypte 19231930- Mosquée de l>Imam Ash Shafi i , Le Caire», Vevey, Suisse, 2010 Color print, mounted on aluminium and plexiglass 125 x 180 cm Edition 1
UNFRAMED, Nicolas Bouvier revu par JR, Le train de nuit en banlieue, hommage à Kurozawa, Tokyo Nord, avril 1965» , Vevey, Suisse, 2010 Color print, mounted on aluminium and plexiglass 125 x 180 cm Edition 2
UNFRAMED Grottaglie, Tchernobyl, Italie, 2010 Color print, mounted on aluminium and plexiglass 125 x 180 cm Edition 2
All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Printed in the PRC. Published by : MD Editions
Liu Bolin is a limited edition catalogue published by Magda Danysz Gallery (Paris / Shanghai) info@magda-gallery.com www.magda-gallery.com
JR - AROUND THE WORLD
MAGDA DANYSZ GALLERY - 2012