Chinese artist Liu Bolin is world famous for his "Hiding in the City" exhibitions.
What if you were trying to grab a magazine and you accidentally touched his face?
(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)
Liu Bolin's bold, precise work reminds me of my favorite artist of all time: Martin Handford. If you've never heard of Handford, that's for two reasons: he's not a household name, and you're an uncultured boob. But even if you've never heard of the man, you know his most famous creation:
The face that taught me to love books (but not words).(via Facebook)
That's right: Where's Waldo? (or Wally, if you're in the UK). Like Handford before him, Liu Bolin has accomplished the ultimate goal of every artist: to create pictures that you stare at, trying to find the hidden guy. But unlike Handford, Liu's pieces are photographs, and the hidden man is himself, painted to look exactly like whatever he's standing in front of. Since 2005, his Hiding in the City exhibitions have fascinated people in cities all across the globe. The latest is in Zurich's Edwynn Houk Gallery, and runs until August 1.
Liu's work requires meticulous labor and attention to detail. Painting himself can take up to ten hours, but the results are uncanny. He's kept at it for ten years, because he feels strongly about the project's message, which has to do with the marginalization of the Chinese people. Here's the gallery's description:
"The spectacles serve as an act of opposition on behalf of individuals who seem invisible within China's political and economic power structures in its move towards modernization."
The effect of the pieces is pretty powerful, even if they are easier than your average Where's Waldo? book.
This one took me a second.(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)
Libraries creep me out even when there isn't a guy hiding in the stacks.
(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)
There are easier ways to get on TV.(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)
This makes those gold-painted human statues look like chumps.
(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)
That just seems dangerous.(via Edwynn Houk Gallery)