Women Are Hero's

images via jr-art.net

JR is a mysterious artist that creates "Pervasive Art" all over the world. In 2008, he did an exhibit in the  favelas of Brazil to pay tribute to the women of the area. Moro de Providencia is an area that sees a lot of violence, and unfortunately women are often victims of this conflict. I first learned about the social issues of this area last year in a Geography class. Dr. Strait did some work in Brazil at the time and he let us know that when JR creates his work he doesn't just go into a country, install his piece and leave. He gets involved and engages the community. For this particular installation, Women Are Hero's,  the women of the area got a chance to be models for a day and kids were given the opportunity to help create this piece.

JR is definately in the top five of my favorite artist's. I love how his work challenges the world's traditional thoughts of freedom and forces them to address various social issues in the world. He leaves just enough space between his subject and the interpreter that they are able to formulate their own thoughts about the subject at hand and decide if they are going to act upon these thoughts or not. Because that is what JR's work is supposed to do, raise questions...