GIANTS, KIKITO | BY JR, (2017)

Following news about the intention to construct a permanent wall between the United States and Mexico, in 2017 JR created a gigantic installation supported by scaffolding at the border fence in the Mexican city of Tecate. The installation shows Kikito, a toddler whose house in Tecate overlooks the border fence, playfully peeking over the fence from his side, which meant that the piece could be better appreciated from the United States.

On the final day before the work was to be taken down, JR organized a picnic that took place across both sides of the fence. Kikito, his family and hundreds of guests from both the United States and Mexico, came together to share a meal. People gathered around a long table stamped with a set of JR’s iconic eyes and that stretched across both sides of the fence, and as they ate the same food, shared the same water and enjoyed the same music (half the band played on each side) the division disappeared for a few hours.