Body and Art: The Display of The Human Form
By Júlia Zim Amaro
This article was inspired by Ohanga Creative and visual artist Occipital’s prints.
You can browse more of Occipital’s artwork in the Ohanga Market.
The human body has always occupied a special role in art—from the first drawings made by cavemen to Henry Matisse’s famed painting Dance, the way we envision and represent our bodies constitutes an important aspect of artistic expression. Early depictions of the human body often started with artists trying to portray their gods, using the body as their vessel. In 1721, philosopher Montesquieu said: If triangles made a God, they would give him three sides, illustrating how humans imagined gods in our corporeal image. The depictions of the body made by cavemen did not portray gods, but rather, themselves; cavemen utilized art as a method to tell their own stories, exploring personal experiences through their display of the human form. The Bhimbetka rock shelters in India exhibit some of the first remnants of human existence with cave paintings expressing cultural and spiritual realities still present in the villages surrounding the caves.
In modern art, The Dance is an important symbol of the portrayal of the body. Exploring themes of liberation in both versions of this painting, Matisse relies on simplicity to illustrate physical joy. Five bodies are depicted dancing atop a green hill––Matisse employs a classic fauvist color palette and form, inspired by primitive paintings and portrayals of the human body. Such representations of the body in art reflect the societal values and point in history that artists are inserted in. So whether it be gods or ourselves, the human form possesses various meanings and significances in art and illustrates the cultural, sociological, and religious beliefs of the artist.
Featured on the Ohanga Market, Occipital’s paintings capture the body in different manners, transforming feelings into physical expression, and exploring the relationship between our minds and bodies. Oftentimes the psychological mind is considered to be something separate from the physical body when the fact of the matter is that they are one and the same. The anxieties and depressions of the mind translate into stiffness and tension, whereas happiness and calmness manifest themselves through loose, free limbs. In Occipital’s I may bend but I will not break, we see a long, stretched body with its arms thrown back, exhibiting a release of rigidity and stress and capturing the feeling of being liberated. This piece explores the theme of resilience and overcoming obstacles that cause one to “bend” in the process. It captures the feeling of being stretched out, pushed to your limit, but persisting instead of shattering.
Occipital’s FORM WP 4836 depicts multiple bodies performing diverse movements. The piece is a part of a series featured in the show Kinaesthetics, which is the study of one’s bodily movements, or learning the motions the human body often performs. This painting displays bodies trying out these movements: walking, stretching, studying their own body, and experiencing the gestures it can perform. It points at the experience of being human, evolving, and going through changes while trying new things—for what is being human if not attempting to figure out how to exist and inhabit the form of the physical and mortal body. It also ruminates on the idea that we as humans go through different phases of being alive, sometimes repeating the same actions or experiences multiple times to find ourselves.
The theme of translating emotions into physical language occupies an important role in Occipital’s art and modern art in general, illustrating the reliance on the human form to depict internal struggles and states of mind. As our society evolves, the way we see ourselves in it also changes. Art remains one of the best ways to analyze the self-reflection that is continually in transition. The body serves as a creative vessel onto which artists can project the stress of modern living and the overarching desire for freedom.
Works Cited
Wall, Rebeca. “The human body in art” ArtWeb, March 5 2021, https://blog.artweb.com/art-and-culture/human-body-in-art/ Accessed March 10 2022.
Metwaly, Ati. “The Human body as Art” Ahram Online, November 9 2010, https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/25/297/Arts--Culture/Visual-Art/The-Human-body-as-Art.aspx Accessed March 10 2022
Degas, Edgar. “Art analysis: Dance by Henri Matisse” Artsper Magazine. https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/art-analysis-dance-by-henri-matisse/ Accessed March 14 2022
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Bhimbetka rock shelters." Encyclopedia Britannica, September 3, 2013,
https://www.britannica.com/place/Bhimbetka-rock-shelters Accessed March 14 2022.
Images:
“Bhimbetka war scene” Wikimedia Commons, Bernard Gagnon. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bhimbetka_war_scene.jpg
“Dance by Henri Matisse” Wikimedia Commons, Michel B.
