Body of work

Wow. Wow. Wow. Gesine Marwedel is a German artist who specialises in using the human body as a canvas for her paintings. (I don’t know if that’s her in the gold frame in this photo – her website seems to suggest that it is, but it also suggests that a woman is a flamingo and a man is a tiger, so I can’t be sure.)

When I first saw these on the Laughing Squid site, I couldn’t quite believe it. I had a look at Gesine’s website, and it does seem that she also paints some more conventional pieces that would be easier to hang on a wall. But it’s her incredible bodypaintings that I wanted to show you.

Whether it’s a swan or a flamingo or a tiger or a city, I think these are just amazing. Not being even remotely artistic myself, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to paint on a canvas – nevermind on the lumps and bumps of the human body as you try to recreate a clear image like these.

And props to these poor models, who have been covered in paint and contorted into awkward shapes for the sake of art.

You can check out Gesine’s website here. And good luck if you decide to get out some paints and give it a go this weekend. Just remember that the Avatar blue of that cityscape mightn’t wash off by Monday morning…(Although if your hand was painted like a flamingo or swan head? That would be very cool.)