‘We Teach You How to Survive As an Artist’: JR Is Teaching a Free Class in Paris Next Year to Train Artists in the Practical Side of the Business

The street artist and photographer JR learned the tricks of his
trade on his own, but now he’s preparing to share his hard-earned
knowledge with aspiring photographers—for free. The artist
announced on Instagram that he’ll be teaching a new course, titled
“Art and Image,” at the École Kourtrajmé, a film school in Paris
founded by his longtime friend and collaborator, French director
Ladj Ly.

“He started the film school there and I am starting the art
school,” JR told Artnet News. The year-old institution is located
in the suburb of Montfermeil, “in the exact place where I pasted my
first photo,” JR said, recalling how he used to take photos on the
sets of Ly’s short films, while Ly would film the street artist at
work.

Currently in its first year, 36 students are enrolled at the
École Kourtrajmé. JR is raising the money to take on an additional
12 students in the new year for his photography course, which is
scheduled to run from January to July. Leica is donating cameras,
and all students will receive a stipend for lunch and subway fare.
(If the school is successful, JR hopes to pay for future students’
housing, but the initial cohort will be responsible for their own
accommodations.)

Applications from prospective students are due November 29, and
must include a two-minute video and up to 10 images. Candidates
must be over 18, but do not need to have any photography training.
Artists trained in other mediums, such as painting or drawing, are
also welcome to apply. So far, nearly 100 applicants have sent
in their materials.

“It’s not a photography school. It’s not a school of how to
become a better painter or a better sculptor,” JR said. “It’s a
school where we teach you how to survive as an artist.” So while
there will be a few classes on the history of art and photography,
the vast majority of the curriculum will be about more practical
matters such as how to work with a gallery and to sign a fair
contract, how to retain the rights to your work, and how to promote
it.

JR says his photography lessons will focus not on as photography
as art, but as a way for artists to document their work and
exhibitions. “When you know how to photograph your own work,” said
JR, “then you can share it with galleries, with museums, and on
social media.”

This practical nature of the training is personal to JR, who
says he “didn’t even know how to make a PDF” when he got his start.
“At the beginning, of course, I made many mistakes because I knew
nobody—but I think maybe I learned faster because I had
to.”

Students will also have access to JR’s many high-profile friends
and collaborators, including his studio manager, Marc Azoulay,
artists like Takashi Murakami, and even Naomi Campbell, who JR told
the Art
Newspaper he wanted to have model for the class.

“If you look at everyone I’ve been working with, you can assume
I’m going to give them them a call to come and teach,” JR said,
citing Pace Gallery president Marc Glimcher, musician and art
collector Pharrell, and Kathy Ryan, photography director of
the New York Times, as other potential guests.

The anonymous French artist is known for his large-scale
pastings that have transformed sites such as Ellis Island’s
abandoned
hospital and the Louvre pyramid in
Paris. Currently, JR is the subject of a mid-career retrospective,
“JR: Chronicles”—his first major show in North America—on view
at the Brooklyn Museum through May 3,
2020.

Since 2009, JR has run Casa Amarela (Yellow House) in the Morro
da Providência neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
providing art classes for children between the ages of five and 14.
(Celebrity guests such as Madonna and Sacha Baron Cohen have taught
workshops with children there.)

“The school is there to show these kids anything else but the
crime and violence that surrounds them,” JR said.

The post ‘We Teach You How to Survive As an Artist’: JR Is
Teaching a Free Class in Paris Next Year to Train Artists in the
Practical Side of the Business appeared first on artnet
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