Superblue Reveals JR's Massive Photo Mural in Miami
Comprising 1,048 portraits of Miami inhabitants, The Chronicles of Miami will be visible on Superblue's facade throughout Miami Art Week.
JR, The Chronicles of Miami at Superblue Miami (2023). Courtesy Superblue Miami. Photo: Oriol Tarridas Photography.
Party-goers from Miami Beach and pro domino players from Little Havana are among the characters who appear in JR's mural on the exterior of Superblue Miami.
The Chronicles of Miami (2022–2023) will be on view at Superblue through at least 2024, extending also to a facade at the Jungle Plaza in Miami Design District through this December.
The mural is the culmination of efforts undertaken last November when the artist and his team drove a mobile photo studio in a 53-foot-long truck to ten Miami neighbourhoods.
Passersby at each location, from the Design District to Coconut Grove, were invited to have their pictures taken in the way that they chose. Mayors and local celebrities also made the cut. In total 1,048 Miami citizens appear in the final work.
An augmented reality app enables audiences to hear stories from each of the mural's participants.
'Harnessing the power of participation, JR's works uplift and empower every individual to recognise their important roles in their community and to see others in the same way,' said Superblue Cofounder Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst.
The project is the latest instalment of JR's 'Chronicles' series, a collection of location- or issue-specific works inspired by the work of muralist Diego Rivera. It began in 2017 with Chroniques de Clichy-Montfermeil, which depicted 750 residents from a downtrodden East Paris suburb.
A doorway embedded in the mural at Superblue opens into a second installation by JR within the art centre's walls. The Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR's Printing Press puts visitors on the interior of an oversized printing press, where portraits they took in booths before entering fly off rollers to rest on the ground.
The installation accompanies other immersive works by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, James Turrell, Es Devlin and teamLab that will be on display during Miami Art Week. —[O]
