Description
With La Nascita (2024), JR captures the theatrical power of his large-scale public interventions—this time transforming Milano Centrale with a rugged, hollowed “mountain” façade that feels both monumental and uncanny. Executed as a trompe l’oeil, the image overlays the station’s Roman, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco language with JR’s own visual universe, blurring time, place, and architectural identity.
The work draws directly on a striking historical fact: in the early 20th century, vast quantities of rock were excavated from the Alps for the construction of the Simplon Tunnel, the engineering feat that connected Italy and Switzerland and helped shape the era of modern travel. JR’s dramatic depiction of a carved-out mountain brings that hidden history to the surface—at the very site where travellers arrive and depart—inviting reflection on movement, exploration, and the human impulse to reshape the natural world.
JR archived the installation as a photograph, captured across multiple moments of the day, preserving the changing light and atmosphere of the site-specific work. This example is a C-type print on Fuji Crystal Archive DP II matt paper, hand-signed (lower right) and hand-numbered 126/293 (lower left), and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by JR.
Details
Artist: JR
Title: La Nascita, Milano Centrale, Italy
Year: 2024
Medium: C-type print (C-print)
Paper: Fuji Crystal Archive DP II Matt
Dimensions: 31 × 41 cm
Edition: 126/293
Markings: hand-signed (lower right), hand-numbered (lower left)
COA: included, signed by JR
