Painter Uses Human Bodies as Canvas

Johannes Stotter uses human bodies, sometimes several at a time, as a canvas to create optical illusions of animals, including frogs, wolves and mandrills. Not only does he have to determine how to paint the bodies to produce the visual effect he seeks, but he must also consider how the people who are posing can hold their poses for a long time or, sometimes, how one person will be able to support someone else’s body weight.  As a result, he experiments with motion, as well, in his sculptural presentations.   One of his most important discoveries was how ultra-violet paint could enhance his work and he uses them frequently.  Born into a family of musicians in Italy, his formal education did not include art; he has learned solely through studying other body painters and experimenting. He also paint bodies in abstract designs as well as painting human bodies and including them in photographs of natural scene.  They are camouflaged to become indistinguishable from the surrounding trees and rocks. I am unbelievably impressed by this man’s skill, and the fact that he’s self-taught is even more incredible.