Body art
Art using the human body as primary medium.
Body art is a form of art in which the artist uses the human body as the primary medium. Emerging from the context of Conceptual Art during the 1970s, it may include performance art and is utilized for investigations of the body in various media including painting, casting, photography, film and video. More extreme body art can involve mutilation or pushing the body to its physical limits. In more recent times, the body has become a subject of broader discussion, including implants, symbiosis with new technologies, and virtual avatar bodies.
- field
- Conceptual Art, Performance Art
- known_for
- Using the human body as primary artistic medium
- key_artists
- Marina Abramović, Chris Burden, Orlan, Vito Acconci, Carolee Schneemann, Hermann Nitsch, Otto Mühl, Günter Brus, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Rebecca Horn, Youri Messen-Jaschin, Javier Perez, Jana Sterbak, K
Lore & Background
Body art emerged from the context of Conceptual Art during the 1970s. In the United States, Carolee Schneemann, Chris Burden, and Vito Acconci were active participants. Acconci documented his daily exercise routine of stepping on and off a chair for as long as possible over several months, and also performed Following Piece, in which he followed randomly chosen New Yorkers. In France, body art was termed art corporel and practiced by Michel Journiac, Orlan, and Gina Pane, while in Italy in the 1980s, Ketty La Rocca was a famous artist in the movement.
Reader's Guide
Body art often deals with issues of gender and personal identity, and common topics include the relationship between body and psyche. Artists may explore extreme avenues, such as allowing the audience to use the nude body as a canvas of experimentation, or testing the limits of their own bodies. French artist Orlan modified her body through plastic surgery, modeling herself after Western beauty standards. The absence of body is also a strategy, focusing on silhouettes and shadows, as seen in works by Stelarc, Davor Džalto, Antony Gormley, and Andy Warhol. Performance body art can display the teaching and symbolism of the human body and sexuality, engaging the viewer in reaction to how their mindset interacts with the visualization of the human body.
Did You Know?
- French artist Orlan modified her body through plastic surgery, modeling herself after Western beauty standards.
- Photographer Spencer Tunick conducts photo shoots gathering large numbers of naked people at public locations worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is body art and where did it come from?
Body art is a creative practice in which the artist treats the human body itself as the central material rather than a subject being depicted. It grew out of the Conceptual Art scene in the 1970s and overlaps with performance art while also extending into photography, film, video, casting, and painting.
Who are the most well-known body art artists?
Frequently cited figures include Marina Abramović, Chris Burden, Orlan, Vito Acconci, Carolee Schneemann, and Rebecca Horn, among others. Viennese Actionist artists such as Hermann Nitsch, Otto Mühl, Günter Brus, and Rudolf Schwarzkogler are also closely associated with the movement's more confrontational strand.
How does body art differ from ordinary performance art?
While the two overlap, body art specifically positions the body as the primary artistic medium rather than merely a vehicle for a scripted act. It can be captured or documented through still photography, casting, film, and video, giving it a broader media footprint than a single live performance.
How extreme can body art become?
At its most radical, the practice has involved self-mutilation or deliberately pushing the body to the edge of physical endurance. Artists in the Viennese Actionist tradition, for example, used blood, flesh, and bodily fluids as raw material to provoke visceral reactions in viewers.
How has body art evolved in the digital and technological age?
Contemporary practitioners now explore cybernetic implants, symbiotic relationships between flesh and new technology, and fully virtual avatar bodies. This shift broadens the movement's original 1970s focus on the physical body into questions of identity, augmentation, and posthuman form.
More in Art Movements & Styles 1-19
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