JR’s towering Tribeca takeover

Last seen in Paris making the Louvre disappear, French street artist JR grows grander in scale and ambition with every project. So to New York’s Tribeca district, where the US-based real estate developer DDG recently invited the French artist to create a soaring mural on its 100 Franklin Street property. The large-scale photograph was originally taken at Ellis Island in 1908, and is part of the artist’s ‘Unframed Ellis Island’ series, which features historic images of immigrants passing through the gateway on their way into the United States. It’s not the first time JR has scaled the side of 100 Franklin Street: last year the site hosted a 100ft-tall mural of a ballerina, inspired by his Los Bosquets film. DDG is known for injecting its developments with art, having previously collaborated with the Whitney Museum, Gagosian Gallery, the Andy Warhol Foundation, and Yayoi Kusama. It has plans to transform 100 Franklin Street into a residential and retail hub, as well as regenerate the surrounding area thanks to funding by its charitable arm, DDG Foundation.