Face2Face Project, Bethlehem, Palestine. Courtesy of JR
Bonhams’ upcoming Urban Art auction, set to take place on February 24 and featuring a vast array of prominent graffiti artists (read Banksy), is being described as an event that will ‘test the strength’ of such works in the art market. This note of cautiousness, wholly comprehensible in light of the current economic tempest, is a far cry from the not-so-distant days where absurd amounts of cash were being thrown at works created by these very same artists with an ease that verged upon the insane. In fact, it was less that than 2 years ago when Bonhams captured headlines for having broken all Banksy records known to man: a staggering £288,000 (20 times the estimate price) was paid for his spray paint on steel entitled ‘Space Girl and Bird’, whilst a further £198,000 (5 times the estimate price) was spent on his ‘Self Portrait’ at their Vision 21 auction.
Such sums in today’s art market are sure to attract quite a few dirty looks, as art lovers and collectors turn to alternative artists which are not only fresher, but infinitely more affordable. And here is where photographer JR enters the scene. Having been described by The Times as ‘the hippest street artist since Banksy‘ (we couldn’t agree more), one of his works recently fetched £26,250 (almost 3 times the estimate price) at an auction held by Sotheby’s.
In a short period of time, this enigmatic creative has become ‘unbelievably hot’, to quote Sotheby’s head of contemporary art, Isabelle Paagman, and has attracted the attention of the rich and famous (including Trudie Styler). But aside from what art experts or celebrities may regard his work as, his talent and artistic projects are significant because they are an accurate reflection of the changes that are shaping contemporary society.
This 25 year old Parisian of Tunisian and eastern European roots describes himself as a ‘photograffeur’ and an ‘artivist’–fusing the media of photography and graffiti art, JR mixes art with action and explores themes as vast as identity, liberty and the breakdown of boundaries. Despite never having revealed his full name, his works have appeared everywhere from Rio to Tel Aviv, where he has pasted immense black and white photographs in differing urban contexts.
The subjects of his photographs are ordinary people living extraordinary lives, whether as women struggling to survive in war-torn Liberia, or taxi-drivers braving the turmoil in Palestine. Aside from seeking to raise awareness of others’ plights, JR chooses some of the world’s most impoverished places to showcase his art so as to demonstrate that ‘art can work anywhere’. He emphasises that his works are divorced from politics, and that rather than seeking to be an ‘artist with a cause,’ he sees himself as ‘an artist that causes people to think’.
Aside from his undeniable talent, JR is remarkable because he is incredibly in touch with reality and is an individual whose humbleness is inspiring. Despite his works selling for considerable sums of money, he continues to remain true to his art by investing that which he gains into his next project. Teaching us a lesson that no financial institution ever could: life is but an opportunity of self-fulfillment and growth that can only ever be grasped through sharing our humanity with each other. So stop seeing the economic crisis as an obstacle to your dream of becoming a millionaire–rather, ask yourself what you can start giving.
