liu bolin appropriates classical masterpieces with canvases of camouflaged human bodies

liu bolin makes a major shift towards the virtual world for ‘art hacker’, a solo exhibition at klein sun gallery on from november 17 — december 23, 2016. the world-renowned chinese artist, widely known as ‘the invisible man’ for his camouflaged body art, has completed a new series of work that appropriates two classical masterpieces — da vinci’s mona lisa and picasso’s guernica. juxtaposing these works is an image that depicts tianjin’s devastating explosion at a container storage station in 2015. bolin meticulously recreates these three compositions using human subjects as his canvas, using complicated and precise hand-painted camouflage.

detail of guernica, 2016 | archival pigment print | 43 1/2 x 98 3/8 inches (110.6 x 250 cm) edition of 8 + 2APs
image courtesy klein sun gallery, © liu bolin

the exhibition explores the theme of ‘disappearing and reappearing’, while probing questions about mass production and the circulation of information. the image of human suffering symbolized in pablo picasso’s 1937 ‘guernica’ is relived through bolin’s composition as he makes a personal plea for humanity and freedom. in his interpretation of ‘mona lisa’, bolin hints that the work was stolen from the louvre more than 100 years ago, and reflects on the relationship between past and present, reality and illusion, as well as individuality and history.

these new compositions exhibited at klein sun gallery have already begun to replace the three original subjects on numerous websites when targeted with image-search results on google and baidu.

mona lisa, 2016 | archival pigment print | 78 3/4 x 54 1/4 inches (200 x 137.7 cm) edition of 8 + 2aps
image courtesy klein sun gallery, © liu bolin

detail of mona lisa, 2016
image courtesy klein sun gallery, © liu bolin

tianjin explosions, 2016 | archival pigment print | 49 1/4 x 98 3/8 inches (125 x 250 cm) edition of 8 + 2APs
image courtesy klein sun gallery, © liu bolin

detial of tianjin explosions, 2016
image courtesy klein sun gallery, © liu bolin

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