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In Profile
Disappearing Act
liu bolin Beijing
Liu Bolin’s remarkable images offer a window into a society that still vexes the West. Kimberly Bradley on the Chinese artist whose work forces us to focus on the unseen
‘Hiding in the City No. 26 – In Front of the Red Flag’ (2006) – a striking image by Liu Bolin
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Standing on the yellow line of a highway leading into Shanghai, a man and his team race against the clock. High-rise housing projects are on the distant horizon and a mysterious monolith has been set on the road. As the man is literally painted into the background, the sun disappears. Just as the colours and shapes rendered on his clothing, face and hair perfectly match the Chinese urban landscape, a photograph is snapped, documenting the dramatic camouflage effect. It’s perhaps a little ironic that Chinese artist Liu Bolin has managed to gain global visibility… by making himself invisible. His camouflage shots have attracted the attention and critical acclaim of the art world and beyond since first exhibited in 2007. The striking images have become a trademark, showing him in mostly public spaces in his native China, with body, face, even his shock of short black hair, painted into a kind of trompe-l’oeil. The pictures use no digital manipulation whatsoever. “For me, hiding is a strategy. It’s a way to gather the power,” says Liu. Part of an ongoing series that the 37-year-old calls ‘Hiding in the City’, the images were initially a response to personal hardship. In November 2005, the Chinese government demolished the Beijing artist village Suo Jia Cun, rendering Liu and about 100 other artists homeless. “The forced removal of the artists studio was my direct inspiration,” says Liu, who was born in Shandong province and trained as a sculptor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. “I want to show to the world a silent resistance of a Chinese artist.” The series’ first image camouflaged Liu into the demolition’s rubble. Many more photographs followed, all of which subtly comment on the state of the arts and society in China. In one, Liu fades into a Beijing 2008 Olympics poster. In another he sits in the lotus position in front of a striped road barricade. Several shots show him in front of urban walls covered with Chinese characters, graffiti, or even anime figures. He disappears into the Great Wall or even ‘hides’ in front of and behind men in Chinese military uniform. The artist is both actor and producer of the final product, but also considers what he is doing as performance art. “During the performance I just stand there unmovable, I won’t think too much,” he says, explaining his process. “But creation takes a long time. When I choose the background I really chew on it; I have to express clearly to the audience why I choose a certain background.” Assistants paint Liu into the predetermined scene as quickly as they