The Real Life Invisible Man

      Liu Bolin is the amazing artist who paints himself into any background. He has been disguising himself to blend in urban or nature backdrops, creating the illusion of a human chameleon or a ghost. Bolin spends about 10 hours being painted for each work so he perfectly matches the background.

      One of Bolin's recent projects includes painting fashion designers to visualize how other creative people – such as Angela Missoni and Jean Paul Gaultier – get lost in their work. But Bolin's most famous project is 'Hiding In The City' with installments in Beijing, New York and Venice. Featured is also Bolin's new work and some of his classic pieces in this blog. 

Bolin's art of blending in the background has earned him the nickname 'The Human Chameleon'

He paints himself all over to blend into the background of city scenery

The invisible man

Bolin recently painted famous designers in their work. Here is Angela Missoni

And Jean Paul Gaultier

And Alber Elbaz for Lanvin,

And Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino.

Bolin brought his art to the streets of New York City for a new installment of his 'Hiding In The City' project.

Hiding in New York – Tiles for America

          38-year-old Liu Bolin, from Shandong, China, manages to camouflage himself in any surroundings, no matter how difficult they might be. Liu works on a single photo for up to 10 hours at a time, to make sure he gets it just right, but he achieves the right effect: sometimes passers-by don’t even realize he is there until he moves. 

 The talented Liu Bolin says his art is a protest against the actions of the Government, who shut down his art studio in 2005 and persecutes artists. It’s about not fitting into modern society. Despite problems with Chinese authorities, Liu’s works are appreciated at an international level.