French artist JR was recently invited by the New York City Ballet to create a large-scale art installation, in collaboration with the dancers of the Company, for their 2014 Art Series.
The artist, who is known for exhibiting his works outside of museums and catching the attention of the public by freely placing his art on buildings and walls all over the world, has created an homage to the human form and dance within the hallways and floors of Lincoln Center for the New York City Ballet's Second Art Series.
above: the artist in the center of his floor installation
The installation includes numerous pieces, all created from JR's photographs of the NYC Ballet Company dancers clad in white. Large images are placed on the windows facing the exterior and can be found in various places in the interior. JR then created ink transfers on wood of some of his photographs and placed these throughout the halls of the venue. The piece de resistance is the floor, covered with a giant tromp l'oeil collage of the dancers against and interacting with white paper, creating a three-dimensional illusion with which he intends people to interact.
JR's photographs for the installation:
The ink wood transfers made from his photos:
The photographic floor installation:
Interacting with the installation:
A poster with an photo of the installation is being used to advertise the NYCB Art Series throughout New York:
Installing the art piece:
Many of the above images of the creation of this extraordinary installation are from JR's own instagram feed.
NYCB Art Series Presents: JR
His work will be on view at three special New York City Ballet Art Series performances on January 23rd, February 7th and February 13th, where all tickets are priced at $29, and all audience members will receive a limited edition commemorative piece.
Performances will go on sale to the public on January 6th.
About The NYCB Art Series:
NYCB Art Series commissions contemporary artists to create original works of art inspired by our unique energy, spectacular dancers, and one-of-a-kind repertory of ballets. New York City Ballet has worked with leading and emerging artists throughout the Company’s history — luminaries like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Julian Schnabel. We are proud to continue this tradition through annual collaborations with some of the most compelling new artists on the scene today.
About the artist:
JR exhibits freely in the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not typical museum visitors. His work mixes Art and Act, talks about commitment, freedom, identity and limit. He creates "Pervasive Art" that spreads, uninvited, on the buildings of the slums around Paris, on the walls in the Middle-East, on the broken bridges in Africa or the favelas in Brazil. People who often live with the bare minimum discover something absolutely unnecessary. And they don't just see it, they make it. Some elderly women become models for a day; some kids turn artists for a week. In that Art scene, there is no stage to separate the actors from the spectators.
above: examples of JR's previous projects
After these local exhibitions, the images are transported to London, New York, Berlin or Amsterdam where people interpret them in the light of their own personal experience.
As he remains anonymous and doesn't explain his huge full frame portraits of people making faces, JR leaves the space empty for an encounter between the subject/protagonist and the passer-by/interpreter. He intends his work to inspire and raise questions.
A big thank you to both JR and Street Art News for the wonderful images, many of which I cropped and altered for visibility.
NYC Ballet
JR
