Women Are Heroes: Modern Art at its Best

I recently bought this beautiful book documenting a project by one of my favorite contemporary artists, JR. This book is A-MAZING. It features the photos and stories of hundreds of everyday women living in areas of human conflict. JR took photos of the women and blew them up into large-scale format which he then posted across buildings, trains and buses in cities around the world.

To me, this kind of project sets the standard for modern art. JR's work brings a call to social justice into the public realm in a way that is compelling and unexpected. He infuses the city streets with the presence of women who are marginalized and often unheard, and he does it in a way that is subtle, artful and profound.

"What JR's work shows is in fact people telling a story, their story.  They are anonymous people in whom the media takes only a fleeting interest-when their village is on fire or their children are fighting a war.  JR allows us to share their pain and their joy, their hopes and their regrets."  --from the introduction

Here are some photos I took from the pages of the book, aren't they gorgeous?!