"La Caverne du Pont Neuf," an installation in Paris by French street artist and photographer JR, has opened on Monday after a delay because strong winds had damaged the artwork. It is on show until June 28.
With the largest project of his career to date, JR has said that he aims to shift how people experience France's capital. It's an ode to late artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Pont Neuf Wrapped," which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025.
Images of rugged rock make up the installation titled "La Caverne du Pont-Neuf," rising above the river in black and white to cover the 232-meter-long (761-foot-long) bridge. The "cave" is made up of 80 canvas arches filled with air.
JR also took inspiration from the quarries in the Paris basin from which the bridge's stones were extracted. Built entirely of Lutetian limestone, also known as "Paris Stone," the Pont Neuf or "new bridge," completed in 1607, was the first in Paris not to be made of wood.
The artist, who often uses photographic images, aimed for a striking juxtaposition between the roughness of the raw material and the refined elegance of the French capital, known as the City of Light.An architectural landmark transformed into a pure object of art
