The photographer-activist, JR, converts his pictures into posters and transforms our streets into universal open-air galleries. From Los Angeles to Berlin, he keeps his independence and illegal exhibits in the streets, which he considers to be his very own gallery.

After his first guerrilla exhibition on the walls of Montfermeil’s ghetto’s (93/370) in 2004, JR settled down right in the heart of the district collaborating with Ladj Ly, inhabitant of the ghetto, actor and director from the collective, Kourtrajmé.

Armed with a 28 mm lens, JR shot full frame portraits of young people from this neighbourhood and the nearby district of The Forestière (Clichy-sous-Bois, 93). This no frills, straightforward technique allowed them to get very close to this generation.
Interviewing them, without restrictions, on the recent events of November 2005. The first portraits were illegally pasted on the east walls of Paris, a district that was once run-down, but has now become a residency for the bourgeois bohemian, who are shielded from the flames.
With a certain « in your face » rudeness, they provoke passers-by and question the social and media representation of a generation that people only want to see outside the doors of Paris or on the news.

The exhibition starts today, September 3rd 2010 to September 25th.
JR will be present at the exhibition on September 7th 2010 at 7pm.

Gallery Opening Time:
Tuesday – Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday: 11am – 4pm
Monday closed

Galerie Springmann
Mühlengasse 3
40213 Düsseldorf

You heard it: The Roos are back.
After the successfull launch of the new Heritage line end of 2009 , the guys from KangaROOS now produced the Combat Eco.
The Combat was one of the first running style models, which has been released from the Roos Family back in1979 and it is still the best known one. You know the story about the secret pocket, right?
Bob Gamm invented the pocket, as he was a passionate jogger, who didn´t know where to hide his keys during the run. So as an engineer in style and praxis he invented the pocket and yes…it became the significant, special extra, which the Roos are known for till today.

Inventions always have to me be made and so, it perfectly fit together, that the people at KangaROOS again did something special and designed a special shoe: The Combat Eco.
The idea is clear. Saving materials saves the environment and so more than 80% of this shoe are recycled and saves so the environment. It´s easy like that.
Now, with the environmental changes which can´t be overseen everywhere, Roos try to change the world by building some shoes “which look good, make you feel good, which give back to mother nature and which substain for a while”

Art Direction: Misslawn

Photography: Brooke Nipar

There’s also some behind the scenes footage from the ‘The Rest Is Her Story” shoot along with some sneak peek footage from their upcoming Fall Del II “Bad Girls Never Die” shoot.

Along with the many new evolutions of classic 10.Deep styles, there are several new pieces that they are introducing – including a selection of Baja ponchos, graphic button downs and sleeveless denim and zip sweats, off color heathers and bleach-splashed sweats.

You’ll also notice that there is a follow-up section to the lookbook where they introduce a new, sportswear segment of the line they’re calling the Victory group.

Check out the whole lookbook here.

Artist Statement

Printing has changed the world.  With the invention of the movable type printing press around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg created arguably the most important instrument for the global democratization of knowledge.  Not only did the printing press facilitate the spread of text-based information, it also spread images.  Prior to the invention of the printing press, artwork had to be viewed in person, limiting the influence of styles and specific images to local audiences or those wealthy enough to travel great distances.

The printing press may have begun the democratization of art, but another printer evolve it both conceptually and practically.  Andy Warol made art based on accessible products and personalities from pop culture.  In addition to his attempts to democratize art through his subject matter, Warhol used screen-printing to produce multiple versions of his images.  Where elitism, preciousness, and scarcity had been the ruling principles in the art world, Warhol embraced commercial reproduction techniques and mass culture.  Further down the line, two of my biggest street art influences – Barbara Kruger and Robbie Conal – used printed posters to spread their artwork and messages in public spaces.

I’m a product of the era of mass production and the mass culture it has created.  I can’t imagine my art practice without the influence of, and the use of, printing.  Some of my biggest art influences were not paintings, but printed things like album covers, skateboard graphics, punk flyers, and t-shirt designs.  When I discovered stencil making and screen-printing in high school, I used them to make t-shirts and stickers, but by college I began to use screen-printing to make art. I enjoyed illustration, photography, collage, and graphic design separately, but with screen-printing I could synthesize those techniques into an integrated final product.  Screen-printing also provided latitude for experimentation and the ability to make multiples, and my style began to evolve as I explored the graphic nature of the medium.  I tried to make images that would translate well to screen-print production.  A harmony of beauty, power, and utility was my goal.

I always believed in art as a part of public dialogue, and my Obey Giant street art campaign aspired to arrest visually and provoke intellectually.  With the need for me to compete with well funded advertising, screen-printing posters myself was the only way I could afford to create large quantities of materials to share on the streets.  My theory was that I could print an image on thin paper for the streets and on thicker paper to sell.  I was broke, so I needed a process that was affordable and efficient.  I printed my posters in a consistent size and color palette so I could build modular grids of images and constantly expand my image library for large outdoor installations.

Repetition, consistency, and persistence over the years yielded a growing audience for both my outdoor art and gallery art.  As people started to request more “fine art” of my images, I began to embellish upon my utilitarian printing techniques by printing on wood, metal and canvas, as well as incorporating stenciling back into the work.  Some of these pieces began to function as one-of-a-kind mixed media paintings.  To keep my work affordable and accessible, I also made screen-print-on-paper editions of my fine-art pieces.

The Printed Matters show incorporates every variety of my printed works, including prints on wood, metal, album covers, and fine-art collage papers.  Some people say print is on its way out, that it will be wiped out by digital media, but I say you can never replace the provocative, tactile experience of an art print on the street or in a gallery.  Printing still matters.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September, 16th, 2010 / 8-11pm

Exhibition Dates: September 16th – October 9th, 2010