JR’s Los Surcos de la Ciudad, Marino Saura Oton, Cartagena, Espagne is a signed limited edition lithograph on wove paper derived from his landmark project The Wrinkles of the City, initiated in 2008. The series was conceived in Cartagena, Spain, and later expanded to cities including Shanghai, Los Angeles, Havana, and Berlin. In each location, JR collaborated with elderly residents whose lived experiences mirror the layered histories of their surroundings.

This composition features Marino Saura Oton, one of Cartagena’s oldest inhabitants and a witness to the Spanish Civil War. His deeply lined face is juxtaposed with the weathered surface of a rusted industrial façade, where a staircase arcs above his head like a drawn contour. The visual fusion of portrait and architecture reflects JR’s central premise: that cities, like people, accumulate marks of time. Cracks, corrosion, and scars become metaphors for memory, survival, and resilience.

By translating a site-specific wheat-pasted intervention into a fine art print, JR preserves the ephemeral nature of street art within a collectible format. The lithographic artwork bridges public installation and printmaking, reinforcing his practice of transforming overlooked individuals into monumental presences within urban space.

Published in 2021 in a limited edition of 250, Los Surcos de la Ciudad, Marino Saura Oton, Cartagena, Espagne is hand-signed, stamped, and numbered by the artist. Measuring 48 × 36 cm, this print stands as a compelling example of JR’s socially engaged, globally resonant practice.