When Liu Bolin paints himself invisibly into symbol-laden environments, he shows cracks in the façade and awakens the viewers to reflect on their daily life. This Chinese artist, whose works speak a universal language, makes him relevant worldwide.

Bolin himself describes his actions as “being a doctor who diagnoses problems and creates effective cures.”

Painting oneself invisible is the artist Liu Bolin's approach to making injustices in society visible as well as an invitation to the viewer to think for themselves: “What kind of patterns and systems are we actually part of? How much is hidden beneath the surface? Are you, as an individual, being shrunk by the culture around you, and how could you grow instead?” To create this reaction, he paints himself in environments charged with symbolism, be it on a shelf with soda cans whose logos scream out the illusion of an active lifestyle or when Beijing's old artist quarter is demolished by a superior power that disapproves of artistic freedom. Then he takes his team and goes to work in projects such as Hiding Man and Hiding in The City.

“I spend a lot of time and commitment on choosing places. There is always a message I want to direct the viewer towards. For me, as an artist, I see it as my responsibility to use the privileged platform that artistry provides to reach out. The goal is to expose social injustice, environmental destruction, oppression in various forms, and contribute to change. Not infrequently, I also want to focus on the conditions that prevail for artists in my home country.”

“The goal is to expose social injustice, environmental destruction, oppression in various forms, and contribute to change. Not infrequently, I also want to focus on the conditions that prevail for artists in my home country.”

Careful preparation and many hours of painting are required before his body is included as part of the context. Layers of paint on the human body go tone-on-tone with the background, making the body part of the scene. Something that causes those around the work to wake up—and when Bolin reaches his goal—also act. The tension between the individual and society meets in intricate intersections filled with conflict and criticism, which Bolin's art makes clear. His photographic work from these actions has aroused engagement and fascination for decades, which means that he is represented in many of the world's most famous museums and institutions.

“It is with gratitude that I understand that my way of working artistically apparently speaks in a language that is understood worldwide. This is part of the privilege I have, and therefore I want constantly to try new techniques to be relevant to new generations.”

One reason why he is currently in the process of using AI in the work of creating 3D sculptures. It was as a sculptor that he began his artistic career, which has long run parallel to performance art and photography.

“Although I have been working on various projects for a long time, I am far from finished. There is so much more I want to achieve and reach out with, so it is very important to me to never stop developing. It is an exploration that is always ongoing.”

The challenge to take personal responsibility applies to Bolin himself as much as to fellow artists and the audience. The locations he has chosen during his career have varied greatly since that first series from China, The Invisible Man, that made him famous. Sometimes he is painted in classical antique works, other times among significant places in different cities, for example on Sergels Torg in Stockholm. Most often, however, he returns to his native China where he still lives and teaches at the university in Beijing.

“It all started with curiosity about what was really going on in Chinese culture. In what ways did it affect our ordinary life? Was what we saw as an obvious lifestyle really obvious? Then I found a lot of injustices that were hidden under the surface, things that I wanted to highlight. Pointing out these facts by hiding myself became a signal and a call to others to also undress the hidden and see the patterns.”

When Bolin describes his role, he puts on a somewhat unexpected garment: the doctor's coat.

“As a doctor, I want to meet the patient, search for the problem together, and come up with a medicine that removes the pain and makes the patient healthy and vigorous.”

He believes that the experience of art is, of course, different for each person, but that for him, there is a general driving force to contribute to the audience being touched and thereby given the opportunity for new perspectives. The desire to awaken the viewer runs like a red thread in Bolin's artistry since the beginning of his career as a performance artist in 2005—the one who, with the help of invisibility, continues to shine a light on structures that would otherwise prefer to hide in the dark.