JR unveils his monumental installation on Pont-Neuf

This cavern is the continuation of a long project begun in 2016 with Le Secret de la grande pyramide, at the Louvre, where a collage revealed the pyramid "differently" and gave us a glimpse of its underside. This continued in both Italy and France, notably two years ago with the metamorphosis of the Palais Garnier in Retour à la caverne, whose façade was transformed into a vast cavern opening onto a passageway of rock and light. With the trompe-l'œil of La Caverne du Pont-Neuf, large rock formations linking the right and left banks of the Seine, I want to invite visitors to get as close as possible to the cracks in the bridge, to reveal what lies beneath the surface of this historic monument!

It's both an extraordinary honor and a considerable challenge! I've always felt very close to the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. We share the same principle of self-financing, without logos, to preserve the purity of the work. I was lucky enough to meet Christo on many occasions… I admired his work. I didn't get to see The Pont-Neuf Wrapped - I was 2 years old when he packed it - but I know how much this work marked Parisians. Today, my gesture is similar - I'm even collaborating with the Fondation Christo and Jeanne-Claudeon this project - even if my interpretation is completely different.

For me, it's a kind of culmination: after years of covering facades all over the world, I'm giving the public the chance to "enter" one of my creations for free, as visitors will be able to cross the bridge, day and night. This Caverne du Pont-Neuf will be the largest immersive work of art in the world: 120 metres long, a veritable voyage into the unknown.

It's a reference to Plato's myth that makes us think about society and ourselves. The philosopher talks about perception, illusion and truth - themes that are totally contemporary. Today, our "shadows" are our telephones, our algorithmic bubbles that lock us into a different version of the world and polarize us. Art, on the other hand, doesn't give answers, it raises questions. Returning to the cave means returning to the origins of the world and the first human traces, the desire to say "I'm here" through "graffiti" in caves. As someone who started out in graffiti, I'm passionate about it. This installation in Paris is my interpretation of all that.

Paris is the starting point for everything. It's where I pasted my first images - the Women Are Heroes project on the Pont Louis-Philippe and the quays of the Seine in 2009 - where I cut my teeth and grew artistically. From the rue de Rivoli (central Paris) to the Pantheon (^{5th arrondissement)}, via the Hôtel de Ville esplanade (central Paris) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (^13th arrondissement), I've pasted my work all over the city.

Paris has seen me evolve. Coming back here with a project on a scale never seen before, in my own city, is extremely powerful. This is a capital where you can dream big. We did it with the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are still being talked about all over the world. I bet 2026 will be an incredibly culturally rich year for Paris.