Also following the story.
He is the MAN

I like JR but it's getting a bit repetitive now, from what I can see he's doing exactly what he's done with 'Omelia Contadina' (huge print carried out by people).
Ukraine is so rich with artists (and arts) I'm not sure why he is pulling one of his stunts....
I would expect more a Ai Weiwei in there (which has a strong background with displacement of people) instead of JR....Just my two cents. I'm curious to see the final result nevertheless...

JR explains that he went at the invitation of a local Ukranian artist called Waone.

A big part of JR's art is participative activity, involving people in making the actual piece of art, it looks like well over a hundred people showed up to help. The participation is as important as the  finished piece of art itself.

Stunt?  

Why bother waiting for the final result when you've already dismissed the art?

Agree, some of it is beginning to look a little exploitative, not so much this project, but certainly quite a few others are coming across as having a bit of a saviour complex.

Quite a few cultural institutions "fundraisers" appear more about the institution than the oppressed and beseiged people of Ukraine. Some of it looking suspiciously close to those Youtube videos where people film themselves giving a homeless person a sandwich. Disco for Ukraine anyone ? dance yourself dizzy. I guess we should be thankful.. but still...

Which is why i said not particularly this project..which he was invited to by Ukrainians. He's in Lviv, not Kyiv, so not a warzone, it's a similar distance as London is from Berlin. Ukraine is huge. And as I said.. I guess we should be thankful...but still... now what's this about Marijuana ? :-)

The intervention is for raising morale. It's a work made at the invitation of Ukranians, with Ukranians and in Ukraine, at this terrible moment in their history, to promote an image of resilience and hope. It's not rocket science. Neither is JR a war photographer, nor would he ever claim to be.

You were saying...?

www.cnn.com/2022/03/18/europe/lviv-ukraine-attack-russia-importance-intl/index.html

correct me if i'm wrong, we're here to share. Opinions and sometimes opportunities like outings, exhibitions... I don't really appreciate JR's work but that doesn't prevent me from sharing his outings for these amateurs and if some take advantage of them... perfect
It's pretty cool, isn't it?

Not sure if anyone’s posted this already but he’s releasing a Ukraine benefit NFT. Deets in his discord below:
discord.gg/jrart

My first thoughts re JR were that he was a bit of a dilettante, a bon vivant. But I was curious, and years back when he did his Times Square photo truck my son and I participated. Last year one of the more diverse schools near me in Brooklyn took the images of themselves and pasted them up all over the facade of their school, laughing having fun and taking pride in themselves. A number of other NYC teachers also had their classes get involved in the Inside Out project. We went to the NYC Ballet collaboration, and after met him, he signed the poster for my son. I think he’s creating an interesting body of work of which his prints are just a small part, in some ways his entire thing is performance art, not unlike what Gordon Matta Clark did, a socially conscious statement documented by photographs. I do love his ballerina print amongst the boxcars.

and he did this in 2008: