Introduction

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

We're talking to one of the most famous street artists in the world, j r. He takes photos of humans who are too often seen as powerless or invisible and he makes their images monumental. The sheer scale of his art forces us to consider the stories of the people in the pictures. We look into their eyes, and we're pushed to reconsider our own perspectives. To day on the podcast, we're going to be talking about how we can all use art to connect to others, to see the world differently and to take action.

Art can move us in deep, meaningful ways. A beautiful song, a good book, or a great film can change our perspectives and attitudes toward ideas, and sometimes people. Where does that magic come from–and how can we channel it when we’re creating? JR is an artist famed for his enormous black and white portraits that tell stories and adorn surfaces from the Louvre to the favelas of Brazil. His ambitious projects, like a recent massive mural outside a supermax prison in California or the boy who peers curiously over the wall at the Mexico–United States border, put a deeply human face to things we might have only read in the news while also highlighting and celebrating the connections between us humans. In this episode, JR talks about the importance of joy in his art-making process, speaks to the value of community and curiosity, and shares how his unique working style developed over the years.