The invisible man: Liu Bolin
Art magazines, art blogs, newspapers and TV shows have gone crazy over the artwork of Liu Bolin recently: He is the man who becomes invisible by painting himself exactly like the background he is standing in front. Like a chameleon, so to say.
But there’s more behind it. He does not take on the colour of the background, he even fits in perfectly with the surrounding – it’s not that easy to find him in every picture directly! In order to arrange the perfect picture the 26-year-old concept artist does not shrink from spending more than ten hours standing in the same position while he is painted elaborately.
Living in China, one is tempted to think about the social and political background of Bolins’ installation: In a country where individuality is not the most important aim, people tend to disappear in the masses. Luckily, Bolin has not been punished for his art yet…