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Edmund Lee


48 HOURS: You're showing only three works at your Galerie Perrotin exhibition (until April 25), which you called a "short preview" of the Ghosts of Ellis Island project. Why this arrangement?
JR: Because this time the big show is at Repulse Bay — which is maybe twice the size of the whole gallery [of Galerie Perrotin] — with a photo booth, videos and lots of my projects over the past 10 years. That show is organised by the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation in collaboration with Galerie Perrotin.
When will you show the rest of your Ghosts of Ellis Island project?
The project is just finished and a film will be ready this year. I think the next big exhibition just for Ellis Island is going to be in New York in January next year.
I have to admit I find the photos in this project very creepy.
Yeah, and that's why I call the project "Ghosts of Ellis Island". Because a lot of people got stuck [on that island in New York] and never made it back. There's a really strong energy you can feel when you go there.
So who would be so brave as to buy the works and put them up at home?
[ Laughs] You know, my work is not made to decorate, necessarily. My work is to make statements. If people want to put them in a museum — and also people can see them on Instagram or the internet — it conveys a message because it's open to the public.
In your other projects, you often give prominent exposure to the faces of ordinary people. Would you say the spirit of your work is in tune with the internet era?
Yeah, I think some of my works — like the Inside Out project — are mirrors of society. I leave my work open to the public and they can decide how they want to use it. A lot of people [take part in my work] to be seen to exist for just a minute — like the way people use social media.
Apart from the filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, you're probably the only person I know of who's always photographed with sunglasses on. Do you get recognised when you're without them?
No, no. That's also a big part of it. I've done it over the years; before, there was even more protection. In a way, it still works because there are a lot of countries I go to where, when I take them off, people don't recognise me. So I would call it 'semi-anonymous'.
How often do you change your sunglasses?
A lot. Because I lose them and I break them. That happens a lot.
You've said in the past that you're hiding your identity to stay low key because you want the messages of your work to be the focus. But you're not doing a very good job at not getting recognised, are you?
[ Laughs] I could show you. I could be in this place and take the sunglasses and hat off, and no one would know me because you've only seen me this way. I go to a lot of places to travel and, when I take them off, no one ever recognises me. It's the best balance I've found to not be too exposed and not be completely anonymous.
Over the years, you've gone from being a street artist in Paris to becoming a renowned figure in the international art scene. Is there still a need to hide your real identity today?
I never saw the advantage of jumping out and just showing your face, so that everyone can recognise you. The longer I can keep that, the better, because I like this kind of quiet life of being semi-anonymous. You can go to places and people don't treat you for who you are, but just by the work you do.
It's remarkable that you can pull this off.
All the people I photographed, they always saw my eyes. But when there's another camera around, I put the sunglasses back on. Maybe one day it won't work any more, but that won't be a problem because my work is not based on that.


Interview: French artist JR on sunglasses, and his work as a mirror to society

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The inconspicuous French artist is never seen out in public without his hat and shades


The inconspicuous French artist is never seen out in public without his hat and sunglasses.


Interview: French artist JR on sunglasses, and his work as a mirror to society

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The inconspicuous French artist is never seen out in public without his hat and shades

The inconspicuous French artist is never seen out in public without his hat and shades