Street artist and 2011 TED Prize winner JR is drawing focus to the social context of his work using a new iPad app. The semi-anonymous street artist is known for wheatpasting massive photographic portraits on the roofs and walls of buildings in deprived locations, with the aim of creating a conversation around what’s happening there. Though the artist conceals his identity, he’s given talks, taken interviews, and used the web to draw attention to the people and problems that his work speaks to. The app features a collection of JR’s projects, as documented by photographs and videos. Though much of the art is already featured on his website, the app centers users’ attention on the locations that he’s chosen to work in by laying his projects out on a world map. JR’s iPad app may not be breaking new ground, but it’s helping to advance his efforts: as he told The New York Times shortly after winning the TED Prize, “Part of the work is the conversation that follows.”
TED Prize-winning street artist JR brings focus to rundown locations with new iPad app
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
