French street artist JR, whose work has previously been shown in Times Square, Fordham University and inside abandoned hospitals on Ellis Island, always seems to outdo himself when he comes to New York City. Last week, The New York Times Magazine released the April issue, titled “Walking New York.” The cover is an aerial photo of the very large and very real piece by JR at Flatiron Plaza, with information that there were many more placed throughout the five boroughs. There could be no better cue for us at Untapped Cities to go traipsing around the city this weekend.
All 14 of the other pieces were also photographs of recent immigrants, taken by JR on the streets of Nolita earlier this month. The goal is to encourage people to walk all over the city to find the pieces. Below are all 14 pieces of JR’s “Walking New York” project:
1. Grand Concourse, Bronx
This piece is on the side of The Bronx Museum of The Arts on the Grand Concourse. In the photograph is a 20 year old woman named Kamola Akilova. She is originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan and is currently a language student. She immigrated here less than a year ago and got married in City Hall not long after.