JR & Art Spiegelmann The Ghost Of Ellis Island

The Unframed Ellis Island project is about bringing alive the
memory of Ellis Island, the entry point to America for millions of
immigrants. Coming from all over the world, leaving their belong
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ings, their family and their past behind them, with the fear that
they may be sent back to it, the presence of these people who have
shaped the modern American identity can still be felt in the build
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ings, although abandoned for the past 70 years. This is the opportu
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nity to interpret the stories of these people through art.
Unframed is an ongoing project by JR, who uses images by famous
or anonymous photographers and archival images. JR interprets
them and takes them out of their context depending on the place,
neighborhood or city he works in. In August 2014, JR was invited to
work on the abandoned part of Ellis Island. This island, next to the
Statue of Liberty, is very symbolic - the gateway to the United States
for 12 million immigrants, from 1892 to 1954. On the south side of
the island, the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital has been abandoned
since 1954. JR revisited the archives of Ellis Island and created many
installations in these buildings so full in stories. Art Spiegelman,
the famous author of the graphic novel Maus, immigrated to the
United States in 1951. He collaborates with JR on this book, illustrat
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ing on photographs, visiting notable stories of immigrants that
came through Ellis Island.

112 pages, 21,7 x 27 cm, hardcover.