Liu Bolin, has once again gotten lost in his work—literally. The Beijing based artist, who has been dubbed “The Invisible Man”, is known for painting himself into his surroundings, using his work as an opportunity to comment on world issues.
Commissioned by the United Nations, his newest piece The Future brings all 193 UN flags together to draw attention to their upcoming initiative, Global Goals. The campaign aims to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change by 2030. Bolin says, “The piece aims to make people think about the future of human beings. Art cannot change the future, of course, but it can touch the present.” Set to be adopted by world leaders on September 25th, Global Goals has been referred to as the UN’s “biggest campaign of all time”.
His meticulous camouflaging stems from his photo series Hiding in the City, which was prompted in 2005 when the Chinese government demolished the town in which he worked. He has since continually explored pressing global and political issues, and created an impact by giving voices to those who have been silenced, all while remaining unseen and unheard.