He's back... honestly! Chinese camouflage artist returns with latest work disguising himself among everyday objects

They may look like plain old photographs of road sides and supermarkets, but these meticulous images take hours to construct.

It is the latest series of camouflage trickery unveiled by artist Liu Bolin, or 'the invisible man', who made his name blending into the background of everyday scenes.

The new shots, now exhibited at the Eli Klein Fine Art gallery in New York, shows him melting into shelves packed with soft toys, fruit and vegetables, and a magazine rack.

 

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Camouflage: 'Invisible man' Liu Bolin has spent his career blending into the background of everyday images

 

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Now you see him, now you don't: Mr Bolin, 40, spends 10 hours painting himself for each photograph

The 40-year-old, who has spent years perfecting the art, says the images are a statement of his role in society.

'Each one chooses his or her path to come in contact with the external world. I chose to merge with the environment,' he said.

When he is posing for the shots - after 10 hours of make up - he claims even passers-by do not know he is there.

 

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He claims the images are a statement about his role in China's society as even passers-by don't see him

 

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Disappearing act: No matter how complex the backdrop, he becomes virtually invisible to the naked eye

 

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The shots, now being exhibited at Eli Klein Fine Art gallery in New York, are some of his best pieces yet

 

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Blink and you'll miss it: Here he stands in front of a billboard in Shandong

 

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The images have gathered critical acclaim across the world since he started in 2001

Mr Bolin, who is also a sculptor and painter, goes through swathes of clothes as he smears them with paint for each image.

And his friends have even become accustomed to him enlisting their help to conjure up the spell-binding images.

In one of his latest snaps, Mr Bolin blends into a huge billboard showing three females in military style uniforms parade across a square.

In another, he manages to disappear into the grey of a a huge aircraft carrier docked in New York.

A third shows him camouflaged into a rack of magazines - making it hard to see where they end and he begins. 

 

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Thin air: Mr Bolin manages to blend into wood, railings, water, and many parts of a ship

 

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The photograph of China's intriguing street art would be compelling alone - but notice Mr Bolin standing there too

 

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Here he stands in front of people dressed entirely in red in his studio in Beijing for a piece he calls 'Red'

 

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Mr Bolin has gone through swathes of clothes as he repeatedly smears them in paint and graffiti

 

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In this incredible image, Mr Bolin painted even minuscule lines of text onto his face and clothes