Body Art | Daily Art Fixx - Art Blog: Modern Art, Art History, Painting, Illustration, Photography, Sculpture

Art-e-Facts: 5 Random Art Facts – XXII

1. Art Competitions were part of the modern Olympic Games from 1912 to 1952. Medals were awarded for works of art inspired by sport, divided into five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.

The juried art competitions were abandoned in 1954 because artists were considered to be professionals, while Olympic athletes were required to be amateurs. Since 1956, the Olympic Cultural Programme has taken their place. (wikipedia)

2. The famous marble sculpture Pietà created between 1498 and 1500 by Michelangelo Buonarroti, was the only work he ever signed. The story goes that Michelangelo overheard a pilgrim say that the work was created by rival sculptor Christoforo Solari. In a fit of rage, Michelangelo took hammer and chisel and scrawled: “Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this” across Mary’s breast. According to Italian Biographer Giorgio Vasari, he later regretted his passionate outburst of pride and determined to never again sign a piece of his work.(BBC)

3. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since around Neolithic times (about 10,700 to 9400 BC). Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on various parts of his body. These tattoos were thought to be a form of healing because of their placement which resembles acupuncture. Other mummies bearing tattoos and dating from the end of the second millennium BC have been discovered, such as the Mummy of Amunet from ancient Egypt and the mummies at Pazyryk on the Ukok Plateau. (wikipedia)

4. Decoupage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on. Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the “stuck on” appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30–40 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a polished finish. This was known in 18th century England as the art of Japanning (Asian lacquer work) after its presumed origins. (wikipedia)

5. Corbis Corporation, privately owned by Bill Gates, was founded in 1989 and owns the licensing rights to over 100 million digital images and 500,000 video clips. Gates started the company with the belief that people would someday decorate their homes with a revolving display of digital artwork using digital frames. Corbis’s collections include historical and editorial images from photojournalists, museums, and cultural institutions including Andy Warhol Foundation, Ansel Adams, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Gallery, London, The State Hermitage Museum, Christie’s Images, and the Bettmann, Hulton-Deutsch, Sygma and Brett Weston collections, and others. (Wikipedia, New York Times)

Body Painting 101: A Short Primer

Most people have experienced body painting at one time or another. Maybe it was at Halloween or at the town fair as a child when you had your face painted, or a football match where you drew coloured letters across your chest. Maybe (like for many western adult females), you do it every day when you apply your lipstick, eye shadow, or nail polish. But when and where did body painting begin, and at what point does the act of covering the body with colour, become art?

Body painting is considered by some to be the most ancient form of art. The discovery of coloured pigments about 75 thousand years ago (many believe even further back) indicates that long before people covered their bodies with clothing, they decorated themselves with body paint.

Unlike tattooing, body painting is temporary, lasting a few hours to a few weeks. Body painting with ochre (derived from clay), natural pigments found in minerals such as pyrolusite, chalk, and lime, and plants such as kohl, blue woad, and uruku, existed in most tribal cultures with no known single place of origin. Body paint was often worn during ceremonies such as weddings, burials, and initiations. As well, body painting may have been used as identification with a certain people, distinction from others, or for purely aesthetic reasons. Cosmetics, were first used in Egypt to decorate the faces of males and females, the living and the dead.

The tradition of body painting declined with the advent of clothing but many indigenous people in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and others, still maintain the practice. Also, the semi-permanent form of body painting called Mehndi, which uses dyes made of henna is still practiced in India and the Middle East, particularly on brides. Mehndi has also been popular in Western cultures since the 1990’s.

In the 1950’s and 60’s body painting became a minor art movement with the help of artists like Yves Klein, who covered his models in paint and rolled them on a canvas, using them as human paint brushes.

In the 1960’s, body painting started making a comeback with the hippie movement and more liberal ideas surrounding the human body. Since that time, body painting began appearing in popular culture and was used for commercial purposes in magazine and television ads, as well as in the film industry.

Well known artists in the body painting genre include German model and actress Veruschka von Lehndorff (1960’s), New Zealand born Joanne Gair, who painted the infamous Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover (1992), South Korean artist Kim Joon, and hand painter Guido Daniele.

Today, body painting as an art form is popular around the globe. Body painting festivals happen every year in many cities bringing professional and amateur painters together. The World Body Painting Festival in Seeboden, Austria is the biggest body painting art event with thousands of people coming out to admire the participants artwork.

For more information about body painting, visit the source links below. To view more of the stunning images by Hans Silvester from the Omo Tribes of Ethiopia, visit XarJ.net.