Art and Globalisation - JR

Im not sure if anyone has already heard of this artist, he was the winner of the TED art prize. In regards of globalisation, JR is interested in the individual and each person's fate, and takes up themes of photographing groups of people and pasting their images on gigantic landscapes, such as the slums in Kenya, corresponding with trains and landscape features. The images are black and white, and relate to social issues such as Portrait of a generation, 2006, portraits of the suburban gangsters which were enlarged and covered buildings in the middle class areas of his home city Paris. Since this project, he has travelled throughout Europe and the world, creating similar works, projecting regional social and racial issues out into the mainstream world. the two most recent undertakings have been particularly ambitious - Face 2 Face, 2007, saw huge portraits of Palestinians and Israelis positioned on either side of the Separation Wall in eight cities of each country. In 2008, Women presented the issues confronting women in countries where they are subject to discrimination and hostility. These site specific installations create questions of freedom, identity and cultural differences to those who care to investigate. For others, they are simply a humungous funny face that brings laugher and connects people in the community. Other interesting points of his work are that he remains anonymous and is he calls himself a graffiti artist, as his work is displayed illegally on the streets and buildings of the locality. This also raises questions of who does this art belong to - JR? the global community? I think these are the questions he is trying to raise.

Watch this fantastic video for the details of his work:

http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/Meet-the-TED-Prize-Winner-of--100-000--T/87F68DF44529C7F2?utm_source=newsletter_b&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_video