Takeru Amanu
Born in 1973 in Shandong, China, Liu Bolin was a student at the Central Academy of Applied Art in Beijing.
Growing up in a China that was going through a period of great economic development, he took his first steps in the art world during the last years of the Cultural Revolution.
Similar to the Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang, the revolution significantly marked the artist’s persona as well as his visual expression. One of the events that marked the artist most was the Chinese government's demolition of an entire village inhabited by numerous independent artists, including Liu Bolin himself.
His works were repeatedly subject to censorship in China, forcing the artist to seek support in the international art scene. The first works that managed to cross the borders of China were the photo series, Hiding in the City. Liu Bolin thus became a living testimonial of life within the People’s Republic of China. In these works he dealt with themes that would end up being central to his artistic production. He focused on the relationship between human beings and the environment, power, consumerism, memory and progress.
Over the years, Liu Bolin has camouflaged himself and “disappeared” in various places around the world. He has even done so in Milan, which is the main piece in his Hiding in Italy series of works. Not only has the artist paid homage to many places around the world, but he has also exhibited in many prestigious museums. A few examples are the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Complesso Vittoriano in Rome, the UN headquarters in New York, and the Fotografiska Museet in Stockholm.
Today, Liu Bolin lives and works in Beijing.
Similar to the Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang, the revolution significantly marked the artist’s persona as well as his visual expression. One of the events that marked the artist most was the Chinese government's demolition of an entire village inhabited by numerous independent artists, including Liu Bolin himself.
His works were repeatedly subject to censorship in China, forcing the artist to seek support in the international art scene. The first works that managed to cross the borders of China were the photo series, Hiding in the City. Liu Bolin thus became a living testimonial of life within the People’s Republic of China. In these works he dealt with themes that would end up being central to his artistic production. He focused on the relationship between human beings and the environment, power, consumerism, memory and progress.
Over the years, Liu Bolin has camouflaged himself and “disappeared” in various places around the world. He has even done so in Milan, which is the main piece in his Hiding in Italy series of works. Not only has the artist paid homage to many places around the world, but he has also exhibited in many prestigious museums. A few examples are the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Complesso Vittoriano in Rome, the UN headquarters in New York, and the Fotografiska Museet in Stockholm.
Today, Liu Bolin lives and works in Beijing.
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