JR (b. 1983, Paris, France) is a French artist known for his large-scale photographic installations that blend public art, social activism, and storytelling. Working at the intersection of photography, street art, filmmaking, and community engagement, JR transforms urban and rural landscapes around the world into powerful platforms for collective expression.

Maintaining a degree of anonymity, JR began his career as a street artist, posting black-and-white portraits in public spaces to confront social and cultural divides. His early project Face 2 Face (2007) placed portraits of Israelis and Palestinians side by side along the separation wall, challenging viewers to question identity and difference. In Women Are Heroes (2008–11), JR highlighted the strength and dignity of women living in conflict zones by pasting their faces across buildings, bridges, and trains.

In 2011, JR received the prestigious TED Prize, which enabled the launch of the ongoing Inside Out Project—a global participatory art initiative that allows individuals and communities to share their own stories through large-scale portraiture. Since then, JR has orchestrated striking interventions worldwide: in a Brazilian favela, on the US-Mexico border, in the Louvre courtyard, and across the Sahara Desert.

JR has exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, Saatchi Gallery, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Kunsthalle Munich, and the Venice Biennale. His first solo exhibition in the Nordic region, Déplacé.e.s, opened at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm in 2024.

He is also an accomplished filmmaker, directing four feature-length documentaries including Women Are Heroes (2011), the Oscar-nominated Faces and Places (2017, with Agnès Varda), Paper & Glue (2021), and Tehachapi (2023).

JR continues to challenge the boundaries of art and activism, using creativity as a tool for empathy, visibility, and social change.

“ The beauty of an art project is that you cannot always measure the impact, but one day it can become clear. „

—JR