JR‘s art always seeks to stimulate new dialogues, placing people at the center, often in juxtaposition with historical monuments, as was the case in Milan with the project Inside Out in Piazza Duomo. In 2019, his social engagement turns into a project with the inmates of Tehachapi, one of California’s maximum security prisons, which we have already discussed here. The French artist established a dialogue with 48 prisoners, who told their stories and lent themselves to a series of shots, which were then posted on the courtyard floor in JR’s classic art operation. But that’s not all, during the realization of the project the artist, aware of the depth of these encounters, decided to shoot a documentary that could best tell their condition. In fact, prisoners are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Finally, after a good five years, the film – Tehachapi – will be available in all theaters in France starting June 12th, although it has already made its debut in some museums and international festivals.

«The incarcerated men I met there left a profound impact on me, and I wondered how to build a bridge between them and the outside world,» JR wrote on Instagram. «This film is a way to share their resilience and paths to redemption. It is a manifesto of the power of art as a unifying force of hope.»

Ph Camille Pajot, Marc Azoulay, Jesse Watson, Jesse Clark, Courtesy JR