On the long-abandoned walls and windows of Ellis Island’s Immigrant Hospital, artist JR is reinterpreting American history. For UNFRAMED Ellis Island, the French multi-hyphenate has filled the iconic building with black-and-white tableaus of the Immigrant Hospital’s former doctors and patients. With the support of Save Ellis Island (SEI) organization, the artist aims to keep the memory of Ellis Island alive and to encourage the public to join in on its historic preservation.
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JR’s commemorative murals draw inspiration directly from historic photographs from Ellis Island’s hospital archives. From broken windowpanes to peeling, whitewashed walls, young, bonneted children stare longingly while eager nurses crowd together with nervous expectancy. Through these ghostly group portraits, the haunting hospital’s framework is becomes a visual, visceral lesson in national history.Learn more about SEI’s mission on their website and check out the rest of UNFRAMED on JR’s project’s page.
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