In Liu Bolin’s mind: “The Chameleon has the extraordinary prerogative to change its skin colour to merge in the background as a form of self-protection [while] human beings are not animals. Because they do not know how to protect themselves...”.

Liu Bolin was born in 1973 in the northeastern province of Shandong.

During his training at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, he became a student of the renowned artist Sui Jianguo, who mentored him at the beginning of his career.

Liu Bolin became an adult during a great cultural turmoil which coincided with the beginning of a rapid economic growth and relative political stability for China; a time of dramatic changes witnessed by his photos from the series that made him famous Hiding in the City, in which he deals with universal themes such as the relationship between man and nature and between political power and thought. His research in this direction started in 2005 at Suojia Village of Beijing, dismantled by the authorities during November of the same year, and it has not stopped yet.

In 1998 Liu Bolin exhibited in Beijing for the first time his own solo show, since than his distinctive shots and sculptures have been shown at the major contemporary photography festivals such as Les Rencontres d'Arles and have been exhibited worldwide in prestigious international museums.

Amongst his latest solo shows are to be mentioned: La forma profonda del reale, Bocconi University, Milan (2019); Liu Bolin. Visible/Invisible, Mudec Museum, Milan (2019); The Theatre of Appearances, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne (2019); Liu Bolin. The Invisible Man, Palacio de Gaviria, Madrid (2019); Liu Bolin. The Invisible Man, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome (2018); Liu Bolin: The Invisible Man, Erarta Museum, Saint Petersburg (2018); Ghost Stories, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2017); Galerie Party, Centre Pompidou – Acte II with Liu Bolin, Centre Pompidou, Galerie des enfants, Paris (2017).

In 2015 the Museo de Contemporáneo of Buenos Aires invited him for the solo exhibition Desapareciendo; the year after he was commissioned to create the project We Are What We Eat for the United Nations Headquarters in New York. In Europe the artist’s work has been divulged through the Italian exhibits A Secret Tour at H.C. Andersen Museum in Rome (2012) and Hiding in Italy, Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia, Milan (2010); and through the solo show The Invisible Man at Fotografiska Museet in Stockholm (2011).

In addition, Liu Bolin took part to several artistic projects together with other important international contemporary artists such as Botero, JR, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Kenny Scharf, Rero.

He took part as speaker to 2013 edition of the annual TED global conversation in Los Angeles.

Liu Bolin has collaborated with several luxury brands in the fashion world, such as Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tod's and others. He was a testimonial for 2017/2018 of the Moncler brand, in a campaign signed by Annie Leibovitz. In 2018 he was artist of the year for Ruinart maison of champagne.

He now lives and works in Beijing.

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Solo exhibitions

2019 La forma profonda del reale, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
Liu Bolin, Musée de l’Elysée, Losanna, Switzerland
New Change, Over the Influence Gallery, Hong Kong
Liu Bolin / Camouflage, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Victoria, Australia
Visible/Invisible, Mudec Museo delle Culture, Milan, Italy
Liu Bolin. The Invisible Man, Palacio De Gaviria, Madrid, Spain

2018 Liu Bolin. The Invisible Man, Complesso del Vittoriano, Ala Brasini, Rome, Italy
The Invisible Man, Erarta Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Theatre of Appearances, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
The Imperceptible, Il Faut Le Faire, Goussainville, France
Liu Bolin – Vanishing Point, BAFA Contemporary, UK
Liu Bolin | Hiding in the City, Le Didam, Bayonne, France

2017 Ghost Stories, Maison Européenne de la Photografie, Paris, France
Migrants, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Ramacca, Catania, Italy 
Migrants, Magda Danysz Gallery, Shangai, China
Undercover, Odalys Gallery, Madrid, Spain
Galerie Party Act II, Galerie des Enfants Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

2016 Art Hacker, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, USA
Art from the streets, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
We are what we eat, United Nations Headquarters, New York, Usa
Take me out, Chi K11 Art Museum, Shangai, China 
Take me out, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Shangai, China

2015 Disappearing, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
Disappearing, Cyrus M. Running Gallery, Concordia College, New York, USA 
Camaleon, Centro Roberto Garza Sada, Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey Mexico 
The Distance to the Eyes, Magda Danysz Gallery, Shanghai, China
The Distance to The Eyes, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France 
Camuflaje, Galería Oscar Román, Mexico City, Mexico

2014 In Plain Sight: Photographs by Liu Bolin, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA 
Fade in Italy, Boxart, Verona, Italy 
Hiding in the city, MCLEMOI Gallery, Sydney, Australia 
The Heroic apparition, Scream Gallery, London, UK 
Works on paper, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China 
Hiding in the city, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Hanzou, China

2013 Invisible man, The 13th China Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China 
Mimesis, La Cometa Gallery, Bogotá, Colombia 
Mask, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY
Liu Bolin – ein Meister der Tarnung, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Liu Bolin, Camouflages Urbains, Fondation d’Entreprise Espace Écureuil Pour l’Art Contemporain, Toulouse, France
Liu Bolin: The Invisible Man, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont, USA
Invisible Man, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China

2012 Retrospective, Magda Danysz Gallery, Shanghai, China
Hide in the city, Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow, Russia
Liu Bolin, The Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, USA
Liu Bolin, Photographers Limited Editions, Vienna, Austria
Liu Bolin: A Secret Tour, Museo H.C. Andersen, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
Lost in Art, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
Liu Bolin: The Sociology of the Invisible Body, California State University Northridge Art Galleries, Northridge, California, USA

2011 The Invisible Man, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
Liu Bolin, Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
The Invisible Man, Vänermuseet, Lidköping, Sweden 
The Invisible Man, Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China

2010 Hiding in Italy, Fondazione FORMA per la Fotografia, Milan, Italy
Hiding in the City, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela 
Hiding in the City, Sunshine International Art Museum, Songzhuang, Beijing, China
Hiding in the City, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, California, USA
Liu Bolin, Young Gallery, Brussels, Belgium 
Liu Bolin, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA

2009 Hiding in the City, Galeria Tagomago, Barcelona, Spain
Getting Accustomed to Being Impermanent, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
Hiding in the City, Yu Gallery, Paris, France

2008 Hide and seek, Boxart Gallery, Verona, Italy
Liu Bolin, Bertin--Toublanc Gallery, Paris, France
Liu Bolin, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Liu Bolin, Bridge Art Center, Beijing, China
Liu Bolin, Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China
Liu Bolin, Hotsun Art Space,798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Liu Bolin. Live Exhibition, Adler Gallery, Paris, France
Liu Bolin, Mediterranea Gallery, Palermo, Italy
Liu Bolin, Ifa Gallery, Shanghai, China
Liu Bolin, Eli Klein Gallery, New York, USA

2007 Liu Bolin, Bertin Toublanc Gallery, Miami, USA
Liu Bolin. Sculpture's Exhibition, Hotsun Art Space, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Distortion, Hotsun Art Space, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Liu Bolin. Photo Solo Exhibition, Bertin-Toublanc Gallery Paris, France

2001 Haiyang Sculpture Works Exhibition, Beijing Passage, Beijing, China

1998 Haiyang Works Exhibition, Shandong province, China

Group exhibitions

2023 Palais Augmenté 3, Grand Palais, Paris, France

2022 Letters From Overseas, Coral Gables Museum, Florida, USA
Sensorama, MAN_Museo d'Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Nuoro, Italy

2021 The Photography is not What’s Important, JIMEI x ARLES International Photo Festival, Three Shadows Xiamen Photography Art Centre, Xiamen, China
Super Fusion - Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Tianfu Art Park (Chengdu MOCA, Tianfu Art Museum), Chengdu, China
The Photography is not What’s Important, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
Le supermarché des images, Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China

2020 Alien Nations 2020, Coral Gables Museum, Florida, USA
Open Air Exhibition, Fotografiska Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
When Speed Become Form—Live in Your Screen, Wind H Art Center, Beijing, China

2019 The Gaze of History – Contemporary Chinese Art Revisited, Jupiter Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China       
I eat, therefore I am, Musée de L’Homme, Paris, France
Humans, Bernard Magrez Cultural Institute, Bordeaux, France
Art Eats Art, Musée Regards de Provence, Marseille, France
Colors of Contemporary China. A passion of collectors, Saint-Remi Museum, Reims, France
The World to Come: Art in the Age of the Anthropocene, Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Depaul Art Museum, Chicago, USA
Chinese Whispers: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection, The MAK, Vienna, Austria
Surrealness (Performance), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA
The Bigger Picture, Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland, Almere, The Netherlands
The Gaze of History – Contemporary Chinese Art Revisited, The Jupitar Museum of Art, Shenzhen, China

2018 Every Body Talks, Mattatoio Roma, Rome, Italy
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography, OCAT Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
The World to Come, Gladys Gracy Harn Exhibition Hall, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Florida, USA
Hybridizations: The ghost of painting, Whitebox Art Center, Beijing, China
Evidence: A New State of Art, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples, Italy
Liu Bolin: Liu Bolin X Ruinart, KYOTOGRAPHIE 2018, Kyoto, Japan
C'était Demain! La Fabrik, Espace d'art contemporain, Monthey, Switzerland

2017 Alchemy – the First Shandong Youth Contemporary Art Documents Exhibition, Jia Jian Art Museum, Jinan, China
Portrait(s), 2017 Festival 5th Edition, Open Air Exhibition, Esplanade du lac d’Allier, Vichy, France
Biennale Arcipelago Mediterraneo, Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa - Palermo Dusseldorf Pavillion, Palermo, Italy
40 Years of Chinese Contemporary Photography (1976 - 2017), Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China
Forty Years of Sculpture, Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition, Shenzhen, China
Long Island Collects: New Photography, Nassau County Museum of Art, New York, USA

2016 Sublimina, Museo Delle Mura, Rome, Italy
Alchemy – the First Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition, Ningbo Culture Center 117 Art Center, Ningbo, China
Chinascape: from rural to urban, Mostra di Fotografia Contemporanea Cinese, Spazioborgogno, Milan, Italy
Seeing now, 21C Museum Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
21C at 10: a Global Gathering, 21C Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Art from the streets, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
Invisible Threads: Technology and its Discontents, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD Art Gallery), Abu Dhabi, UAE
Up in Arms: Taking Stocks of Guns, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont, USA

2015 BP 15, First Argentine Performance Biennale, Buenos Aires Argentina 
Photo – graffs: Images of Hip- Hop Graffiti and Urban Culture, Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, New York, USA 
The Camera’s Eye, Photojax 2014, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
East Wing Biennal. INTERACT, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, UK
IN SITU, Fabien Castanier Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

2014 The Camera’s Eye, PHOTOJAX 2014, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
East Wing Biennial: INTERACT, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, UK
Pho-to-graffs: Images of Hip Hop, Grafitti, and Urban Culture, Gold Coast Arts Center, Great Neck, NY, USA
East by South East, OBS Gallery, Tonbridge School, Kent, UK

2013 TED 2013, The Long Beach Performing Arts Center, Long Beach, California, USA
Portrait(s), Culture Centre Valery Larbaud, Vichy, France
Inner Journeys, Maison Paticulière Art Center, Brussels, Belgium
Religion, Ritual, and Performance in Modern and Contemporary Art, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, USA
Skin Trade, PPOW, New York, USA
10 Years of Wooster Collective: 2003 – 2013, Wooster Collective, New York, USA 
War Zone Home, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Art Gallery, New York, USA 
Incarnations, Institut Confucius des Pays de la Loire d’Angers, Angers, France
Aura and Post Aura, The First Beijing Photography Biennale, China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China

2012 La Magnifica Ossessione, MART, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
Changement de Décor, Festival des Arts Visuels de Vevey, Vevey, Switzerland
Bienne Festival of Photography, Bienne, Switzerland
Harper’s Bazaar: Inside the Magazine, Yermilov Center, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Korobchinskiy Center, Odessa, Ukraine; Izolyatsia, Donetsk, Ukraine; Museum of Modern Art, Kiev, Ukraine
D.E.F.E.N.C.E. – A Consideration of Various Strategies in Biology, Politics, Economy, Technology, Military, Psychology, Society, and Culture, Vögele Kultur Zentrum, Pfäffikon, Switzerland
Performing for the Camera, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona, Usa

2011 Exhibition of the Neuflize Collection MAC de Marseille, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille, Marseille, France
Réinvestir la Planète, Villa de Levallois, Levallois, France
Urban Play, Landgent Center, Beijing, China
Scenes from Within: Contemporary Art from China, Blackbridge Hall Gallery, Georgia College, Milledgeville, Georgia, USA; Fotográfica Biennale, Museo de Fotografía, Bogotá, Columbia
Black and White, Zero Art Museum, Beijing, China

2010 The Right to Protest, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Reflection of Minds, Shanghai MoCA, Shanghai, China
Passing China, Sanatorium, Istanbul, Turkey
HomeLessHome, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Armed & Dangerous: Art of the Arsenal, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA

2009 Animamix Biennal, Shangai MoCA, Shangai, China; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Shore – Contemporary Academy Sculpture Exhibition, Moon River Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Blank – Making China, Zhongjian Art Museum, Beijing, China
International Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Seoul Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Erotic - Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Dadi Rui City Exhibition Center, Jinan, China
The Big World: Recent Art from China, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Usa
Passing by China, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
Camouflage, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain

2008 International Art Exhibition, Sunshine Museum, Songzhuang Art Zone, Beijing, China
Being, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Jinan, Shandong province, China; Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Liverpool, UK
Force-Form International Contemporary Art, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
The Converted-Image, Dax Art Space, Beijing, China

2007 Modern China: Lost in Transition, Eli Klein Gallery, New York, USA
Computer Men Art Exhibition, Seasons Gallery, Beijing, China
Far Away From City, Photography Group Exhibition, Ifa Contemporary Art Center, Shanghai, China; Song Zhuang Art Festival-2007 Chinese Visual Files, Songzhuang Art Zone, China
Union - Exhibition of Chinese and Chilean Artists, No.1 Art Base, Beijing, China 
Made in Beijing--Chinese Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Olympic Sculptures International Exhibition, Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
Memory Contemporary Art Exhibition, New York Art Center, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China 
Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, New Gallery, Houston, USA
Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
United Exhibition of Communities at the foot of the Great Wall, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
Made in China--Chinese Contemporary Art, Shangai Duolun, Museum of Modem Art, Shanghai, China
Union, Exhibition of Chinese and Overseas Artists No.1 Art Base, Beijing, China
Union in June, Chinese Performance Art Exhibition Songzhuang Art Zone, Beijing, China
China Dream, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition Adler Gallery, Paris, France
Back, United Exhibition of Three Artist Hotsun Art Space, Beijing, China
After…, Contemporary Art Exhibition, New Art Project, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
China Modern Art Exhibition Mediterranea Gallery, Palemo, Italy
Resetting, Suojia Village Contemporary Art Exhibition, Suojia Village, Beijing, China
Review Exhibition of Chinese Performance Art Photos, Ying Gallery, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Off Center Generation—Post-1970s Group Exhibition, 751 Space, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
Breathing, The First Shan Dong Contemporary Art Great Exhibition, Jinan, China

2006 China Contemporary Art Exhibition, Bertin-Toublanc Gallery, Paris, France
Impact Power The Second Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sunshine International Art Museum, Songzhuang Art Zone, Beijing, China
Visit by yourself Exhibition, Songzhuang Art Zone, Beijing, China
Visit by yourself, Beijing View Exhibition, Ner Art Project Dashanzi Art Zone, Beijing, China
Visit by yourself, Satellite Exhibition Shanghai, China
Visit by yourself, Qingzhou International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Qingzhou Museum , Shandong, China
Visit by yourself, Asia Contemporary Art Exhibition, Korea
Redstar,Redstar, Redstar, Contemporary Art Exhibition Red Star Gallery Dashanzi Art Zone, Beijing, China
Reference inside and outside, Exhibition Nanjing, China
Demolish-CHINA, Beijing Contemporary Art Exhibition 751 Factory, Dashanzi Art Zone, Beijing, China
The New Beijing; The New Starting Point, Sculpture Exhibition for 2008 Olympic, Jintai Gallery, Beijing, China
Beijing Calligraphy Exhibition, Maside Art Centre , Dashanzi Art Zone, Beijing, China
Opening of Beijing Distillery Art studio, Beijing Wine Factory Art Zone, China 
Grey and red, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Dashanzi Art Zone , Beijing, China

2005 Contemporary Art Exhibition of Dismantle, Xiyuantianlu Business Hall, Beijing, China
Beijing Calligraphy Exhibition, Maside Art Centre , Dashanzi Art Zone, Beijing, China
Luxury times -- Tianjin Harbour Plaza Cheung Chau, Chinese Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, Tianjin, China
Dismantle -dismantle–dismantle, Contemporary Art Exhibition of Beijing Suojia Village International Arts Camp, Beijing, China

2001 Life is Beautiful --2001 West Lake International, Sculpture Exhibition Hangzhou Art Museum, China
The Second Invited Sculpture Works Exhibition of Contemporary Young Sculptor, Hangzhou Art Museum, China
The First Sculpture Competition Exhibition, Fujian, China

1999 The Second Metals Work Exhibition of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Awards

Prize BNL at MIA Photo Fair 2019 with the artwork Mosè, San Pietro in Vincoli, Roma
Artist of the year for Ruinart, 2018
Prize Consultinvest at ArteFiera 2018 with the artwork Sala del Trono, Reggia di Caserta
Premio Aletti, first place for photography with Teatro alla Scala n°1

Collection

MART, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto
Banca Aletti
Unicredit Group

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