On June 15, 2026, La Poste (the French postal service) will issue a stamp in its art series, featuring JR's artwork "The Cave of the Pont-Neuf," a work by the renowned trompe-l'œil artist.
Through his monumental works, JR invites passersby to question their perceptions. From the Parisian suburbs to the favelas of Brazil, from the US-Mexico border to the separation wall between Israelis and Palestinians, from the Louvre to the inside of a Californian prison, his installations share a common mission: to amplify the voices of ordinary people and foster dialogue. For JR, art aims to make us see the familiar in a new light. His artistic approach is unifying. His participatory art project, Inside Out, has already allowed more than 600,000 people in 152 countries to express themselves through large-format black and white portraits.
With his Trompe-l’œil series, JR intervenes on iconic architectural landmarks. In 2021, he opened up the Palazzo Strozzi (Florence) and the Palazzo Farnese (Rome) through anamorphic illusions. In 2023, with Retour à la Caverne (Return to the Cave), the façade of the Palais Garnier was transformed into a monumental grotto, evoking Plato’s allegory and questioning our way of seeing the world. The work revealed the world of dance and opera to passersby.
In 2026, with La Caverne du Pont-Neuf (The Cave of the Pont-Neuf), JR transformed Paris’s oldest bridge into a place of exploration in the heart of the City of Lights. He paid homage to the vision of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, forty years after the artist couple wrapped the bridge. Visitors were invited to walk through this monumental mineral formation inspired by the quarries from which the stones used to build Paris came. By placing his work on a stamp, JR is investing in a new medium and thus extending his reflection on circulation, passage and connection.
