Superstar Street Artist JR Hosting Free Movie Night in Philly Next Week


Courtesy of JR-ART.net

Courtesy of JR-ART.net

French street artist JR, who is known the world over for his stunning black-and-white photographic murals, is coming to Philadelphia next week to host a free screening of his 2010 Cannes Film Festival favorite, Women Are Heroes. In the film, JR “introduces women who sometimes look death in the face, who go from laughter to tears, who are generous, have nothing and yet share, who have had a painful past and long to build a happy future.” Check out the trailer:

The film presentation is an event component of Mural Arts’ Open Source project, a summer-long exhibition that features site-specific works all around the city from 14 international artists. So far, one of those works has been completed, Berlin-based artist Jonathan Monk’s skateable sculptures in Paine’s Skatepark. Following the screening of Women Are Heroes, Open Source curator Pedro Alonzo will sit down with JR to discuss the film and perhaps the artist’s phenomenal body of work. The 32-year-old lives in France and New York and has displayed his large-scale wheat-pasted portraits on buildings, streets and walls in cities across the globe. I’ll embed some of his Instagrams below so you can check out his work.

As for the screening, it’s totally free. It’s taking place on Thursday, July 23rd at 7 pm at the Graham Building at 30 S. 15th Street. To get in, you need to register here. For more on the Open Source project, go here.

A photo posted by @jr on

A photo posted by @jr on

A photo posted by @jr on