JR, who has already conquered street art around the world with his black and white portraits, has installed his latest L.A. edition of The Wrinkles of the City.  Originally pasted in Carthagene, Spain and Shanghai, China, the scope and scale of these monochromatic photos command breathless attention in the most unexpected places.  Whether it be the close up portrait of an elder on the side of Angel City Brewery or the colossal Westsiiiiiiiide gang sign at Bristol Hotel, JR has earned major street cred in CA and has certainly grabbed our attention at Art Cart.

JR left his first mark on society growing up in Paris.  Using the streets of the city as his own canvas, he documented his tagging adventures and glued the resulting images on highly visible public spaces. He called these projects “sidewalk galleries,” whose premise eventually became recognized by the gallery Lazarides—who represents other well-known street artists like Banksy and Miranda Donovan.

To the world, JR’s artistic genius lies in his projects, Face2Face and Women, of humanistic portraits of men and women living in developing areas of Israel, Palestine, Kenya, and Brazil. His work is ubiquitous and numerous—with the help of hundreds of volunteers, the photographs wrapped buildings, covered shantytown rooftops and adorned favela walls in Brazil. He chooses to make the art about them in effort to pay tribute to the unsung heroes who serve as the pillars of these societies marred by political conflict. 

Now the winner of the TED prize, JR has launched one of the largest global art projects ever attempted. Earlier this month, he announced the $100,000 prize would fund an art initiative to turn the world … INSIDE OUT. To get involved, tell him what you stand for by uploading an image onto the INSIDE OUT website, and JR will return the enlarged print needed to bill-post your own portrait. Just like the portraits seen in downtown LA, we can all contribute to this spectacular effort to change our streets and cityscapes.

Special thanks to Art Cart NYC™ contributor Rachel Low.