In preparation for his upcoming show at Eli Klein Fine Art, Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin was in town to once again hit up New York. This time, he collaborated on a unique project with his friend and fellow photographer JR (featured)AM was invited to catch this event where JR shot and created a mural of Bolin on the corner of Elizabeth & Spring St.

The first part of the day JR & crew did what they do best and wheatpasted a photo of the Chinese artist front and center on the streets of the Big Apple. But wait there’s more… Following a short break, Liu got his crack at the famous “photograffeur.” The next step in this collaborative project was to have the TED Prize winning artist painted to blend into his own mural and conduct a shoot through Liu Bolin’s lens. Talk about layers of artistic complexity. Stay tuned for that in Part II.

Until then, check out the action after the jump with photos taken for us by Sabeth718.


Liu Bolin shows us his grey steel taken by JR...

All finished...

Does JR remind you of Leon The Professional?!

Liu Bolin & Martha Cooper

Yo Liu, I'm all done. Now it's your turn...

Photo credit: Sabeth718 for Arrested Motion.
Discuss Liu Bolin here. Discuss JR here.