The French street artist JR is making his presence felt at Frieze London this week with an ingenious work on show in the Koenig bookstore at the fair. For the eye-popping piece, JR has stacked 234 copies of his recent monograph JR: Can Art Change the World?, published by Phaidon, creating an image of an eye across the spines (the work is from the artist’s Women are Heroes project). The affable JR is candid about publicity events—“I don’t like sitting down and signing books”—and why fairs aren’t his cup of tea—“They’re more for galleries and collectors, but not artists.” In the spirit of spreading the love, he is sending out copies of the film Ellis, released this week with Robert de Niro, to communities and individuals who want to screen the work in the comfort of their own homes. The artist has directed the movie which tells the story of the 12 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island in Manhattan.
