オリンピックを観るためにリオデジャネイロを訪れたら、上空に目を向けるのも忘れないでほしい。
フランス出身のアーティスト「JR」が完成させた、巨大なアート作品が2つ出現したのだ。
1つ目は、リオの中心部に作られた「ビルを飛び越える高跳び選手」だ。モデルになったのは、スーダンのモハメド・ユーネス・イドリス選手。ビルの上に組まれた足場をキャンバスにしている。
有名なコルコバードの巨大キリスト像にも負けない迫力だ。
「彼は、2016年リオ・オリンピックには出場できませんでしたが、リオにはいます（笑）」とJRはコメントしている。
2つ目は、海沿いにあるバーラ地区に作られた、とアートサイト「Design Boom」が伝えている。モデルは特定されていないが、「海に飛び込むアスリート」のようだ。
これまた、今にも海に飛び込んでいきそうな躍動感。ちなみにJRは、2016年5月に、ルーブル美術館にあるピラミッドを消し去るトリックアートを制作して話題になった。
今回の巨大アートも、金メダルをあげてもいいくらいの作品だ。
目の錯覚を利用したアート
(01 of06)
Open Image ModalWe had to begin with the man who put optical illusions on the map, M.C. Escher. \r\n\r\nEscher was not a formal mathematician by any means (he only had a high school education in the subject), but he was fascinated by the visual identity of mathematical concepts. Working mostly in lithographs and woodcuts, Escher explored the relationships between shape and space, interlocking figures in multi-dimensional planes and eternally spiraling spaces. In \"Relativity,\" one of Escher\'s most famous works, several identical, egg-headed characters are depicted roaming up and down endless staircases that seem to defy the laws of gravity.\r\n\r\nImage courtesy of Taschen Books.
(02 of06)
Open Image ModalCloud Gate, the 110-ton elliptical sculpture created by Anish Kapoor, is currently installed in Chicago\'s Millennium Park. Formed from polished stainless steel plates, onlookers see a distorted reflection of their surroundings on their structure as their image is reflected back from varying perspectives.\r\n\r\n(Photo credit EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
(03 of06)
Open Image ModalThis acrylic painting by Japanese artist Makoto Aida deceives the eye. Titled AZEMICHI (a path between rice fields), the viewer looks down the evenly parted hair of a pig-tailed girl and sees a narrow country road, bordered by tall grass.\r\n\r\nImage courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery
(04 of06)
Open Image ModalAt the Guggenheim museum in Venice, a three-sided glass structure in a courtyard draws in visitors because of its mirrored edges. The reflective glass doubles objects or people seen on the opposite side of the installation when viewed from a particular angle.\r\n\r\n(Image via Flickr)
(05 of06)
Open Image ModalA Flickr user photographed this mind-boggling optical illusion during an art exhibition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although the cartoon-esque house by Roy Lichtenstein appears to have four walls and a door, it\'s actually created by three angled surfaces as seen in this video that walks the viewer around the sculpture.\r\n\r\n(Image via Flickr)
(06 of06)
Open Image ModalA visitor walk along the piece of art called \"Down The Rabbit Hole\" by Rasch at the Arts Decoratifs museum in Paris, during the exhibition \"Trompe l\'Oeil.\" The art technique used in the piece uses extremely realistic imagery in order to create an optical illusion so the depicted objects appear in three dimensions. Four hundred pieces are presented in the exhibition which runs from February 2, 2012 till November 15, 2013.\r\n\r\n(Photo credit FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)