Liu Bolin, born 1973 in Shandong province came up to Beijing in 1999.

Liu receives a place to study sculpture at the CAFA in 1999 and graduates in 2005. He is the student and then the assistant of the sculptor Sui Jianguo from whom he will later retain the clean shapes, striking colours such as red or white, and doubtless also certain character traits like a discrete sense of humour and humility. In reality, when Liu starts to work outside of the national education circuit he is already not really a sculptor. Like many artists in China, he experiments with an abundance of mediums and techniques that fall between his hands, and above all, his work shows relevance and talent. Sculpture becomes a pretext for performance, performance is in itself painting and then painting becomes photography.

The first work that he presents to the public is a series of photographs entitled “Hiding in the City”, in which a man, often the artist himself, camouflages his face and body to disappear into a seemingly innocent urban landscape.

The second break in the very young career of Liu Bolin takes place in 2007 with an emblematic sculpture, the “Closed Fist”. At the time of his urban camouflage period, Liu Bolin’s financial situation is disastrous and he realises that he must produce more saleable works and so he returns to sculpture, more adapted to the market than the camouflages.

In urban camouflages, man becomes invisible. In Red Hands, he becomes blind. Liu Bolin creates a world that appears to be fun and full of bright colours but is in reality uncaring, a reflection of the post Cultural Revolution era to which he belongs. Liu, who considers himself a more realistic than idealistic artist, has managed to express visually a feeling of unease, according to which, despite appearances, everything is not quite right.

Curator: Bérénice Angremy
Co-curator: Marie Terrieux

More info: ifa-gallery.com/exhibitions/liubolin