body art

American  

noun

1. an artistic practice or style of the 1960s and 1970s developing from conceptual art and performance art and utilizing the artist's body as both the subject and object in such experimentation as decoration, wax casts, and even mutilation.

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Other Word Forms

• body artist noun

Etymology

Origin of body art

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Gesturing to cartoon tattoos that cover the left side of her body, she says she wanted to give people who mocked her something to look at, but eventually, the body art became meaningful to her.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2023

Lucy Thompson, from Bradford, is a medical tattoo artist who has provided restorative body art after operations.

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2023

Or call it high art to body art.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 19, 2023

He has cooked under professionals who have left marks as permanent as body art on D.C. culture, chefs steeped in both tradition and technique.

From Washington Post • Jan. 17, 2023

It was a breathtaking piece of body art.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older