FRANCE-WORLDWIDE-To most English speakers the initials JR have something to do with Texan oil millionaires, but to natives of France they may conjure up more avant-garde images from a man who goes some way to being called that country’s Banksy. This works in different media and is at the forefront of French art, famously decorating sites with huge photo murals, one of which is to decorate the decks of one of the shipping line’s biggest container vessels when she sails on July 3.
The CMA CGM Magellan, a 13,900 TEU box carrier, will depart Le Havre Terminal de France boasting a huge photo collage covering over 150 containers on her starboard side from someone who has exhibited on walls and roofs from Brazil to Kenya, from Los Angeles to Shanghai. The vast floating work of art is commissioned as part of the festival.
Known only by the initials, JR explained the reason he had been so keen to work on the project with his often avowed purpose of bringing art to people who simply would never visit galleries, saying:
"It’s the first time I have the chance to be at the heart of another world. I wanted to work on container ships for years. I want to use them as pixels."