LookAtVietnam – Body painting, a liberalization of social mores regarding nudity in Western society, has arrived in Vietnam as a brand-new genre of body art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the skin,

A work of body painting.

Currently, Bui Cong Khanh and Ngo Luc are the leading painters for this form of art while Phan Quang is a pioneer photographer for the genre.

Early last year, the photographer initiated a one-year project called Colors with the collaboration of Vietnamese painters Bui Cong Khanh, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, Bui Anh Phong, Nguyen Hoang Thieu Tri and Nguyen Thanh Trung. The project required each painter to offer a theme with their own style and to use body painting for their works.

After working painstakingly, “live” works of the artists were shot by photographer Phan Quang and displayed in an exhibition in HCMC. The exhibition gained much public appreciation.

“However, body painting has yet to develop due to social prejudice,” said Phan Quang, adding that the art is another form of nudity while nude art still remains a sensitive consideration in Oriental societies.

Some businessmen have taken advantage of the strong impression of the works of art to promote their business in advertisements, so painted bodies often are aired on television and run in magazines. It is hard to find works of body painting in galleries or at exhibitions.

“I have spent as much as a month convincing models to be entirely nude to be painted in multiple colors. They often worry about public opinion after the work is finished,” complained painter Bui Cong Khanh.

For some local artists, having compassion for body painting means taking a risk for their prestige as the art is too new and Vietnam has no professional training center for the art.

Body painting is a fascinating art. To be entirely nude for another to paint is not comfortable, but both painter and model will be happy after the work is done with its unique and extravagant style, shared actress Hong Anh, who once tried this form of art.

In the current narrow playground of the art for Vietnamese addicts and enthusiasts, body painting divides into two levels, one for professional painters with specific themes and one for miniatures of natural scenery by keen amateurs, said Phan Quang. He also pins high hopes on the wide and far development of the art in the country and the bolstering of maximum creativeness of painters.

VietNamNet/SGT