Liu Bolin: Hiding in the City at Galerie Paris-Beijing (Paris)
Galerie paris-beijing presents Liu Bolin‘s most recent (dating 2012) previously unseen images took in China and Paris as part of the series Hiding in the City.
Liu Bolin, also known as ‘the chameleon man’ is a Chinese artist of the new generation (born in 1973), specialized in stunning performances in which he perfectly disguises himself as the surroundings, constantly playing between the visible and the invisible. By making use of a number of artistic genres and techniques, ranging from sculpture to body art, from performance to photography, Liu Bolin is capable of posing for hours completely motionless. Thanks to his team of collaborators his body ends up completely swallowed up by the environment. No Photoshop post-production, rather, very careful body painting and a meticulous study of perspective is what makes the finest quality of his camouflages.
The origin of Liu Bolin‘s camouflaging performances is anything but playful. It all began with the destruction of the artist’s atelier at the Suojia Village International Arts Camp, a Beijing suburb where hundreds of artists were based. On November 16, 2005, in the context of the works for the Olympic Games of 2008, Chinese authorities began demolishing the village, evicting its inhabitants. Liu Bolin’s series Hiding in the City tells this story. It is in the context of a booming China that Liu Bolin’s artistic production makes sense.
In recent years, Liu Bolin’s project evolved and his research moved westward, turning into a critique of the social issues related to economic globalization, including the complex relation between civil society and financial power, ecology and the exploitation of natural resources, tradition and innovation, conservation and the destruction of heritage.
Galerie Paris-Beijing will show his work again next March in its new Brussels space, for a main retrospective exhibition retracing the last ten years of the artist’s creation, from his first sculptures to his recent monumental installations.
