A new retrospective celebrating 10 years of thought-provoking work by street artist JR will be opening this Saturday in Paris. Presented by Galerie Perrotin, DECADE. Portrait d’une gnration features a selection of the JR’s videos, ink-on-wood pieces, and recent photographs. According to the gallery, “The sequence begins with an immersive installation that takes us into the heart of the Cit des Bosquets in Clichy-Montfermeil, in the suburbs of Paris. This work confronts, as a means to better interconnect the different themes linked by the artist over the last decade.”
Among the highlighted works will be unique projects like JR’s series starring the corps de ballet dancers from the Opra de Paris, whom the artist photographed on the rooftop of the Palais Garnier in 2014. Dressed in black-and-white leotards adorned with dizzying patterns, 40 dancers formed rows, twirled about, and elegantly contorted their bodies at a height of 56 meters above the ground. Part-performance, part-photo series, the project illustrates dancers at work and play, with one of the most striking images showing the subjects lined up and forming a giant pair of eyes gazing out from the opera house to the city of Paris.
JR’s new exhibition, which will simultaneously occupy the first level at the rue de Turenne and impasse Saint-Claude spaces in Paris, will run from September 12 through October 17.
