Liu Bolin Paints JR into His Own Mural on Elizabeth Street, NYC

Part one of this post is about Liu Bolin (below).  Liu is a Chinese painter famous for painting himself invisible.

If you think that's impossible, it's not.  He's incredibly talented and has disappeared into walls, murals, and countless other surroundings over the course of his career.  It's something that absolutely needs to be seen to be believed.  Click here for photos of Mr. Bolin painting himself into the Kenny Scharf mural last year in NYC- you'll see (or not...).

Part two of this post is about street artist JR (above, left) whose work has been appearing in abundance in NYC over the past two years.  The French artist put up his newest mural (which appears very similar in style to his previous Lakota, North Dakota murals in the same neighborhood) this past weekend in Soho on Elizabeth Street, just above Spring Street.

This weekend, I happened across both Liu and JR sitting on small stools and chatting.  First, I was in denial that these two amazing artists were just hanging out in front of me.   Then, I realized that JR was half covered in paint and across the street was a JR mural.  It could only mean one thing- JR was being painted into his own mural by Liu Bolin (EPIC!).

Over the course of the next hour, JR was converted from man to mural, seamlessly blending into the wall at Liu's direction.  Liu was perched on some scaffolding, and used a laser pointer to tell his artists exactly where to put each color. He'd also come down and make a few touch ups of his own from time to time. If you're interested you can still see the mural in person, though I doubt JR is still standing there.  Check out some photos and video of the process and finished product below.