This was published 7 years ago
Artist makes Louvre Pyramid disappear, takes over museum
JR poses in front the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on Tuesday.Credit: AP
Paris: French artist JR has made the famous Louvre Pyramid in Paris disappear in an optical illusion.
The artist covered the huge glass pyramid with a trompe l'oeil - eye tricking - installation that makes it seem as if the monument at the heart of the courtyard has disappeared.
Tourists jostled each other on Wednesday to take the historic selfie of the Louvre without the visible glass structure for the first time in the digital age. By its own reckoning, the museum with the highest number of visitors in the world also "generates the most selfies".
Tourists walk around the JR project at the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, on Tuesday.Credit: AP
The black and white installation depicting the east side of the Napoleon courtyard features on the front of the once-controversial pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect IM Pei in 1989.
JR says he loves "people being destabilised and trying to find the point" that scales with the background.
His street art, mostly monumental photographic collages, often associated with the polemic of the day, have adorned public spaces in Los Angeles, New York, and Shanghai, as well as works in Palestine, Kenya and a favela in Brazil, among others.
A technician pastes a giant picture on the Louvre Pyramid as part of JR's eye-tricking installation on MondayCredit: AP
Louvre exhibition organisers say JR's "spectacular mode of intervention poses questions about artistic creation, the role of images in the age of globalisation".
As part of his commission, the artist will "take over" the museum on Friday for 24 hours with a program of talks, masterclasses, screenings, and workshops.
AP, Fairfax Media