Giants, Brandenburg Gate

In september 2018, JR created a GIANT in Berlin on the Brandenburg Gate for the German National Day celebrating the reunification of the country, October 3, 1990.He combined an archival image made by Iris Hesse on November 10, 1989, during the fall of the Berlin Wall on this place symbolizing the division then the reunification of Germany.

He develops his work around walls. The walls that separate, (Face2Face and Kikito projects); the walls that disappear or are destroyed at a loss for the memory of a place or people (Wrinkles of the City, Destruction serie in Les Bosquets); the walls that we try to build again, in concrete or in our minds. The power of archival images comes back to life depending on the context in which they are exhibited, and the size at which they are displayed (UNFRAMED project). The Brandenburg Gate was part of a wall that represented the division of Europe following the failure of a mass murder ideology. It separated women and men who lived in two opposite systems of thought.The opening of this Gate has kindled a wind of freedom that has engulfed millions of Europeans © Iris Hesse / Ullstein Bild / Roger-Viollet.