The renowned French artist JR, who has captured the faces of immigrants so vividly throughout the world, couldn’t be having a solo exhibition in NYC at a better time ~ with hundreds of immigrant children, taken from their parents at our borders, arriving in East Harlem this month. This week, Perrotin NYC presents the exhibition ~ JR.
JR is no stranger to this City. From Inside Out in Times Square and The High Line, and the entrance to Armory Show, to the installation of immigrants in an abandoned hospital on Ellis Island ~ and the #WalkingNewYork project, JR tells the world a story through his art.
Above and below, Eye Contact #400, trains, 2018 consists of 70 pieces of metal, 320 rail tracks, 40 locomotives, 420 wagons (double decker trains by Mehano. It can be found on the second floor of the gallery.
JR Horizontal is featured on two floors of the gallery, with approximately 30 new works including a series of mechanical sculptures and a video projection.
Below ~ Migrants, Mayra, Picnic across the border, Quadrichromie, Tecate, Mexico – USA, 2018
The two images below, entitled Giants, are part of JR’s Kikito installation (2017) of a child peering over the Mexican border wall. For this exhibition, JR staged a similar installation on the exterior wall of the historic building housing Perrotin Gallery on Orchard Street. It is a large-scale human figure, appearing to peek into the interior of the building.
Below ~ the Eye that is the tablecloth in the image entitled ‘Migrants.‘ “The gaze is an ongoing theme for JR, and Horizontal presents a new take on this as he introduces glass as a support for images of eyes.”
The exhibition, JR ~ Horizontal, will be on view from June 28 to August 17, 2018, with an opening on Thursday, June 28th from 5-8pm at Perrotin New York, 130 Orchard Street, NYC. Prints, books and related items sold in the attached shop.
JR ~ returning to Manhattan with ‘Maria’s Story‘ on Great Jones Street & Bowery.
Check out Anderson Cooper’s interview of JR on 60 Minutes