Earlier this month, I went to Atlanta to attend the Living Art America “Bodies as a Work of Art” body painting competition. I posted pretty extensively in real-time via Facebook, but I wanted to post an entry here for the record.
Happy and I had a pleasant drive/sleep (i.e. I drove while Happy slept!) down to Atlanta, and arrived a couple of days early to hang out with good friends who were organizers of the event.
The artists spent the entire day of the event producing their work, and the models showed amazing patience as they stood still for literally hours at a time. One of my personal favorites was a woman painted to look like an owl, including some striking — almost spooky — contact lenses.
My friend Lisa flew down for the event, and she will vouch for the fact that it was a mind-blower right from the entrance... There were painted women everywhere!
The competition itself was simply awesome. One after the other, models displayed the stunning art they had become in stylish combinations of catwalk strut, artistic dance and fearless exhibition.
I’ve been following body painting as an art form for a few years now, but after seeing it in person I can tell you it is a “real thing” and predict that it will become a major art movement, possibly even an art revolution. Combining fine art with living canvases, it is ephemeral, evanescent, edgy and even a bit exotic… Stay tuned!