Palazzo Strozzi will host remarkable proposals during the coming months such as the exhibition on American Art that will be showcased starting from April 2021. While waiting for the chance to visit the upcoming displays, we can focus on a project that will revolutionise the facade of this historic Renaissance building, keeping us company.
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On March 19, 2021 Palazzo Strozzi will unveil the lastest project signed by JR. The French artist, one of the most renowned in the contemporary art world, will reinterpret the façade of one main Renaissance symbols in Florence: La Ferita (The Wound), a site-specific installation, will offer a suggestive reflection about the accessibility of cultural institutions in the era of the Covid-19.
Born in France on February 22, 1983, JR, famous for his street art artworks, has always allowed general public to contribute to his work. He wants to involve people who are not used to visit museums and to deal directly with art. In his projects, he commonly communicates commitment, freedom and identity (read also about his project Processione Omelia Contadina). Currently, his most usual method to create street art is through wheat pasting and gigantic mono photographs. These huge images are then stuck on urban exteriors such as the sides of buildings, bridges, rooftops.
As the artist declares: "I have the biggest art gallery imaginable: the walls of the whole world". His investigation combines innovation and appropriation, distinguished by a significant participatory involvement that has led him to craft works of huge visual power and participation in several singular spaces and environments, from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the great square of the Louvre Pyramid.
Palazzo Strozzi aims to generate a conversation between ancient and contemporary through the contribution of artists who know how to interpret the current situation. Due to the difficulty to provide occasions to enjoy art in traditional spaces, the decision is to create a work of art visible to everyone on the façade of Palazzo Strozzi, which becomes an invitation to rediscover a direct relationship between art and the general audience.
"JR's site-specific installation represents a strong reflection on the difficult conditions of access to culture in the pandemic era, but at the same time it is an opportunity for a new involvement of the public", Arturo Galansino affirms.
This event follows the installation We Rise by Lifting Others by Marinella Senatore, who had the opportunity to showcase her artist's luminaria to the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi from December 2020 to last February.