Making an iconic landmark 'disappear' might seem like the purview of magicians, but it's street artist and photographer JR who gets the glory this time around. Through clever use of massive photo prints, he managed to make the iconic Louvre Pyramid 'disappear' into the Museum behind it.
If you walk into the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center right now, you'll very quickly find your jaw on the floor alongside the reason for its gaping state. Stretched across the entire promenade of the theatre is a large-scale photo installation that has well-dressed ballet-goers so enthralled they're laying down on the floor, striking poses and climbing up several flights of stairs to get a better view of the massive photograph.
Who owns public art illegally placed onto private buildings? That's a question that came up recently after a famous Banksy work in London was ripped out of the side of a building, shipped across the Atlantic, and put up for auction with an estimated final price of over half a million dollars.
Back in 2010, street artist JR won the $100,000 TED Prize to continue his massive photographic street …
JR (the TED-winning photographer who uses giant photos as street art) and Liu Bolin (the Chinese artist who photographs himself blending into scenes) recently got together to collaborate on a photograph taken by Liu Bolin in which JR blends into one of his large scale installations. The giant photograph that Liu Bolin helped blend JR into is a photo of Liu Bolin's eye, created by JR. Can you say "photo inception"?
The TED conference announced yesterday that the 2011 TED Prize would be awarded to the anonymous street artist and photographer known as JR. Previous winners of the $100,000 award include Bill Clinton, James Nachtwey and Bono.