Art Canvas

For some, to paint on a flat surface is challenge enough. So to throw in the perspiring, breathing, awkward and complex human body as another form of an outlet for the painter seems mean spirited. That is until you witness it first hand.

Think not of just woman donning strategically painted Super 12 rugby gear, no. Think of the edgy image of an elephant man, eight armed skull-holder, and tribal enchanters, a human merry-go-round, hand painted. Woman and men, both alike, are half naked yet the art is not about the nakedness … it is about the ability, the patience, the exchange between artist and canvas. Not to mention the acting of the model.

May 2008 is host to the annual New Zealand Body Arts Awards. Held at the North Shore Event Center, it is a chance for artists, models, media and the public to revel and appreciate in the ability of body art. The theme was ‘In the Jungle’, a bonus for those Lion King devotees.

Body Art – is like…a car crash. It is not horrific or tragic or an allure for the intrigued and sickened few minds. But it is a car crash in the sense that you can’t help but not look away. It is the daring and boldness of the work, the inventive thought of using flesh as a canvas that makes it incidentally charming.