In my last article I introduced a contemporary form of tattooing as an expression of body art that has hit the mainstream artist community. Today’s article addresses body painting, but from an entirely different view. This blog is not necessarily fixated on body art, but when an artist can appeal to people from all walks of life from bathroom renovations Burlington Ontario to Law firms in Las Vegas, the power in living art can now be more easily shared across vast networks of supporters. From beginning works to the outer realms of expression by such a unique interpretation as demonstrated by the work of Johannes Stötter, it merits further attention.
A true artist sees beauty and creativity everywhere. So it goes with the now famous artist Johannes Stötter’s living body of work. No doubt you have seen many of his undertakings on the internet, especially social media where most have gone viral. Stötter uses human bodies to paint and create his images of mind bending illusions. He sees the world unambiguously, and that is what places him and his work center stage with the rest of the fine art community.
His vision includes incorporating natural designs taken from nature and the human body. He will use models covered in vegetables or fruit fashioned to seamlessly blend into one another. You cannot immediately detect where the fruit or the vegetation starts and the human begins. You have likely seen a few of his more famous pieces which include a series of amphibians that are actually human bodies. Each model is painted with outstanding, precise camouflage bringing it all together as a whole.
Born in South Tyrol, Italy he honed his talents wandering the countryside of the Alps. His favorite pastime is hiking where he gathers most of his inspiration from nature. Coming from a family of musicians Stötter plays violin, sings and is a member of the band, Burning Mind. He first started body painting as a student at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He was not an art major, but rather studied philosophy and education. Stötter’s extracurricular activities included art and music.
You can see by the examples in this article the magic he works into each of his pieces. Johannes Stötter made his name in the arena of psychedelic body painting and is completely self taught. He holds World Championships from 2012 and 2014. These days he is kept quite busy in the employment of ad agencies who have him representing everything from fruit juices to industrial products through his painting.
Stötter says he goes into a type of trance when he paints. Initially, he gets an idea, envisions the final painting, sketches the thought on paper and then puts the body types and backgrounds together. He started out using friends and family as his models, but now he receives multiple requests to be a part of his history making endeavors.
While he is not showing at any one particular gallery, he has made his work available on canvas and in limited edition prints. Of course, original paintings and private sessions can be commissioned. He does live performance body painting. He also teaches body painting and travels all over the world by special request. His work has graced CD covers, catalog covers, website-covers and he works his special brand of expression into music videos and fashion shows. He’s a busy guy and it’s easy to see why. Enjoy the images I’ve posted here and definitely keep an eye on Johannes Stötter’s work as investment art.