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olivia-rabbini · 5 years

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Essay to show a formal tone and knowledge of artists/research

The artist and photographer JR is a big inspiration to me as his work has a consistent political message which conveys meaning in many ways to many different people around the world. He started his artistic journey when he was just 15, writing his name on walls and doing graffiti around the streets of his hometown in Paris using his city as a canvas. Using subways tunnels and roof tops, he presented his first side walk gallery at the age of 17, framing photos he took and pasting them on the street walls.

His work inspires me to try and put a message behind the art I create, as he is controversial and allows his audience to question the topic rather than to just to sit and admire. JR has used his art to portray a fair and real story wherever he goes which reflects the actual truth of people and a country, often against popular opinion portrayed in the media. I love his photography and black and white portraits which I have taken inspiration from for my most recent work about communities in London. This project was originally based on the events following the fire at Grenfell and the photography of Tom Cockram, where he captured the faces of people most affected by this tragedy and created a short film. I also wanted to convey a message by painting these people’s portraits and taking pictures on a disposable camera of tower blocks and council estates to go with them.

One of my favourite pieces is called ‘Hold Up’, an enormous print pasted on the side of the Tate Modern in 2008. This temporary piece by JR, a then unknown street artist with concealed identity, can be seen as a big statement only exhibited here for a short time which makes the impact even bigger. It consists of a young black man holding a gun-like structure up to his shoulder, looking along it through the lens making direct eye contact with his intended audience. The strap hanging from the man’s hand bears resemblance to a type of gun used in assassinations or poaching. The circular frame at the end of the object allows the audience to be intimidated as it is not only pointing directly at them, but the protagonist also looks at the audience, so everything points at them.

Upright positioning of his arms angling the object downwards causes a threatening sense as it looks like he is about to shoot. All these aspects signify immediate danger and violence which is why this piece creates such a massive impact from the outset as it is so big making the audience feel helpless and small. At first glance, we assume it’s a gun due to his pose and hand positions around the object looking like he’s ready to ‘shoot’ or setting up to do so.

Also because of the strap hanging from his arms, it reveals the imagery of a typical rifle perhaps used in gang to gang violence and murders/crimes being committed. The object however is not a gun but a camera, which we begin to see as we look longer at the main subject in the image. JR has created this illusion of a gun to play on how people first interpret someone’s look and actions and make them question why they assume what they do on a first impression. The idea of a gun links to gang violence/culture, the figure holding what is actually a camera is a young black man; does the viewer’s misreading of the image reinforce racial stereo types? The large figure is isolated, standing alone on the side to the Tate Modern in central London, visible to all, not just the public visiting the gallery. This reinforces stereotypes and peoples first assumptions; the camera actually could create a sense of innocence and safety heavily contrasted to the person’s first impression of a gun creating an atmosphere of danger and threat.

In my work currently I’m focusing on communities in London such as age, gender and culture, and how we integrate. A gang is like a group or community some might say, and an escalating problem is knife crime and drug related incidents which have been gang related, especially in London. I would like to incorporate this into my work similarly to how JR uses topical controversial issues for the basis of his photographs and placement of his pastes.

JR started out with his friends when he was just a teenager leaving a mark on his society with graffiti work painted along tunnels around Paris and in the subway, all very public spaces. He started off as a street artist which led him to take photos and document his life through a camera which he found on the Metro subway. Like me, I started off by using a digital family camera, and then as iPhones progressed my photos got better, however I love going back to always having a disposable camera on me, capturing moments that could be gone in a second, the uncertainty of what photos I’ve taken looms when I go to pick up my prints. JR would paste these photos on the walls of the streets and buildings around Paris and framing them in colour to make sure that the public did to not get them confused with advertisements and take them purely only for modern art .

It was known that Israeli and Palestinian people have been in a constant conflict over land and religion for many years affecting thousands and devastating both countries, however, it can be argued that this is only portrayed in one light in the media and doesn’t often get major coverage. So JR went to see if he could change people’s perception and again, without being part of the media and just a simple art project. He held an illegal art exhibition called ‘Face-to-Face’ which was about guessing who is Palestinian and who is Israeli. This involved pasting huge close-up photographs of people’s faces on the border between both countries, the portraits were of people doing the same job but from the separate places within the conflict and on opposing sides. Where the conflict lies between them, they were pasted next to each other and the public were asked who was who? It quickly becomes clear that you cannot tell which person is from which background, and that people are the all same regardless of colour, job, religion, wealth and status.

“Women are Heroes ” – another project by JR this time started in the favelas of south America. It brought him all around the world pasting huge portraits of women in different places. His project made a huge difference to favelas, as on the side of houses females’ eyes and faces were pasted creating a completely different image from deprivation, poverty, misogyny and corruption to, full of culture and busing with life. He changed the media representation of these places, which were once disregarded and never talked about, to quite the opposite. The project encouraged more and more women to come forward about abuse they have suffered and trauma they have had to endure in their lives and once again he brought people together and changed perception.

JR he makes a huge social statement wherever he goes and where ever he leaves his mark causing people to question their beliefs and what they know, how the media interferes with what we see. I would love to make an impact like this with my own art and photography – he inspires change and questions beliefs and opinions which I try to hint through what I do.

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