A collection of compelling quotations from JR—the renowned French photographer, street artist, and activist

JR is perhaps best known for taking portraits of regular people, reproducing the images at a monumental scale, and pasting them on the sides of buildings in the subjects’ neighborhoods. Among his many other notable projects are a gigantic photo of a child peering over the top of the barrier at the US-Mexico border and an enormous mural of inmates that covers the ground of an outdoor exercise yard at a California prison. Collected from interviews, writings, and other sources, JR-isms is an inspiring and thought-provoking collection of quotations from the exciting artist and activist, whose work reaches far beyond the traditional art world, from the streets of New York to the suburbs of Paris and the favelas of Brazil.

“I was writing my names on walls to say ‘I exist,’ then I started pasting pictures of people with their names to say they exist.”

“Art is not supposed to change the world. It can offer a new perspective, a new look, break down the walls we build between us, and humanize the ‘other.’ ”

“I always make sure in my art that I even confront my own perspective.”

“You know what they say, that the criminal always goes back to the crime scene? It works the same for the artist. When you do something in the street, you come back to see how people approach it. No one knows it’s you, but you’re right there.”

JR, or Jean-René, was born in Paris in 1983 and began working as a street artist in 1996. His work can now be found in cities and suburban neighborhoods across the globe, and exhibitions and installations of his work have been held at major museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, and Kunsthalle München. Larry Warsh has been active in the art world for more than thirty years as a publisher and artist-collaborator. He is the editor of many books, including The Notebooks of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Judy Chicago-isms, Warhol-isms, and Weiwei-isms (all Princeton).