Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin's work explores the relationship between the grand scale of cultural development and the place of a single individual within it. Best known for his Hiding in the City series, he has been named the "Invisible Artist" after creating a project where he has disappeared into over 100 locations in New York, California, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Russia.
As he explains in his recent TED Talk, Hiding in the City began as performance art protesting the 2005 destruction of Suo Jia Village by the Chinese government. The largest congregation of artists in Asia, Suo Jia Village was Liu Bolin's workplace and home at the time of its destruction. In Hiding in the City No. 1 Liu Bolin camouflaged himself into the ruins of his destroyed studio space.
Hiding in the City, in addition to his work in other mediums, comments on human beings' relationship to their environments (socially, culturally, ecologically, and politically). His works show how broader cultural development has been redefining the role of individuals in ways we need to examine and change before it's too late.
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All images courtesy Eli Klein Fine Art, © Liu Bolin