The invisible man returns – and he’s harder to pick out than ever
Chinese artist Liu Bolin is back with more jaw-dropping work Blends into fruit and veg stall, shelves of soft toys and bus stop Artists spend up to 10 hours at a time covering him in paint Now you see him – now you don’t.
Liu Bolin, the Chinese artist who has become world famous through his ‘invisible art’, is back with some his most jaw-dropping work yet.
His latest exhibition at the Eli Klein Art Gallery in New York shows him melting into backdrops including shelves packed with soft toys, fruit and veg and a magazine rack.
Seamless: Artists spend hours carefully painting Liu Bolin from head to toe so he can blend in to the background
Vanished: An incredible attention to detail is required for Liu Bolin to blend into backgrounds such as these shelves full of soft toys
Blink and you’ll miss it: Travellers could be forgiven for not noticing artist Liu Bolin hiding at this bus stop
Popular: The images have gathered critical and public acclaim across the world
Disappearing act: No matter how complex the backdrop, Liu Bolin manages to become virtually invisible to the naked eye
Each picture takes hours of painstaking work, as artist’s spend up to ten hours at a time covering Liu Bolin in paint so that he blends seamlessly into the background.
The 40-year old is such a perfectionist, bystanders often walk by with no idea he is even there until he moves.
This new series of photographs feature some of his most eye-catching works to date.
In one, he somehow manages to disappear in front of a wall covered in mobile phones and stood on the harbour with a huge naval ship in the background.
The Chinese national, who has gathered critical and popular acclaim around the world for his body of work, says the pictures make a statement about his place in society.
‘Each one chooses his or her path to come in contact with the external world. I chose to merge with the environment,’ he said about his upcoming exhibition.
Patience: The artist spends up to ten hours at at time to ensure the effect is inch perfect
Frozen like a statue: The artist has no problem disappearing even in an outdoor environment such as in front of this Chinese statue
Thin air: Artist Liu Bolin says his ‘invisible’ pictures make a statement about his place in society
Art imitating art: A wall covered in graffiti provides another fascinating backdrop for Liu Bolin to disappear
Camouflage: The artist blends in with rows and rows of people dressed in red hoods in this picture posed in Beijing
Fading away: The artist creates his own version of a family portrait with a mother, father and child stood in front of a lantern shop in Beijing
