A veteran of camouflaging monuments, like Christo, JR has chosen the Paris Opera and its Belle Epoque façade by Charles Garnier for an XXL artistic happening on view until September 25.
While concealing the opera house’s restoration work, the ephemeral installation does not forget to offer entertainment, featuring a forthcoming screening of works from the repertoire of this temple to the art of opera in the heart of the City of Light.
Hide the scaffolding that I can’t see – this is not yet another injunction from the Mayor of Paris in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but a trend that has been in force for some time now on the streets of the capital. Only this time, it’s not another brand happening like the highly successful ones by Dior, Vuitton, Chanel and co. No, this time it’s the committed artist and king of street art: JR…
A work inspired as much by history as by philosophy
Since Wednesday September 6, Parisians and tourists from the surrounding department stores have been able to see a monumental canvas covering the main façade of the Garnier Opera House. Renovation work began in April 2023 and is scheduled to continue until the end of 2024.
The trompe-l’œil painting shows a rocky excavation, as if ripping open the building.
A new anamorphosis of a monument that the artist describes on his Instagram account as “the entrance to an immense cavern opening onto a perspective of rock and light”.
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Featured photo: © Netflix
