JR Unveils New Works for Rio Olympics

In anticipation of the Olympic Games opening this week-end in Rio De Janeiro, French artist JR unveiled a series of giant installations.

In two giant public installations the artist has depicted athletes in action—one diving into the sea in Barra da Tijuca and the second high jumping over a high-rise residential building in the Flamengo neighbourhood.

The work on top of the Hilton Santos building is 20 metres high and has been in progress since June. It honours the high-jumper Mohamed Younes Idriss, a 27-year-old athlete from Sudan who now lives and trains in Cologne, Germany. Idriss will not be participating in the games, however. The installation will be on show until 28 August.

Using what JR describes as a completely new technique, the installations have been made by stretching printed fabric over scaffolding structures to give a translucent effect to the photographic images. The artist says he has been working on the technique for almost a year.