A living statue, also known as a human statue, usually refers to a performer who poses as a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup.
Living statue may also refer to created by an artist using living people, or other works created by a performing artist.
History
The
tableau vivant, or group of living statues, was a regular feature of medieval and
Renaissance festivities and pageantry, such as
royal entries by rulers into cities. Typically a group enacting a scene would be mounted on an elaborate stand decorated to look like a monument, placed on the route of the procession.
By a quirk of English law, nudity on the stage was not permitted unless the performers remained motionless while the stage curtains were open. In the early years of the 20th century, performers took advantage of this exception to stage "plastic representations", as they were sometimes called, centring on nudity. The most persistent performer in this line was the German dancer Olga Desmond, who later put on "Evenings of Beauty" ( Schönheitsabende) in Germany, in which she posed nude in imitation of classical works of art ("living pictures").
A living statue appeared in a scene of the 1945 French film Les enfants du paradis ( Children of Paradise). The London-based artists Gilbert and George created living statues in the 1960s.
Contemporary use
Contemporary performances are commonly on-the-street
busking but may also be at events where the artist is paid. A living statue attraction, as a performance, is the artist's ability to stand motionless and occasionally come to life to comic or startling effect. These performers, also known as human statues,
are often completely covered in paint, often gold or silver in colour.
Australian artist Andrew Baines is known for his artworks using living people, often used to convey a social message.
Phil Genoux was one of the earliest known artists to do living statue as street performance, starting in London in 1988.
Here he is featured on possibly the first current affairs TV footage of living statue as street performance ever aired, on Amsterdam TV in 1989. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfH6Jq0Ov4
Events
Since 1996, the annual World Statues Festival is held in
Arnhem,
Netherlands, initially under the name "Rijnfestijn",
now World Living Statues and Statues by Night.
Since 2000, the University of Business and Social Sciences in Buenos Aires, Argentina has hosted a National Contest of Living Statues.
Since 2011, the International Festival of Living Statues has been hosted by Masca Theatre in Bucharest, Romania, where there is a focus on developing the form through artistic research.
Gallery
File:Living statue, Miami Beach, FL.jpg|Miami Beach, Florida
Image:Stillman living statue.jpg|A Living Statue "Stillman Theater" draws a fascinated crowd
Image:Statue Vivante 19.JPG|"Sophie Malraye, Statue Vivante", World Champion 2006 in Arnhem. Paris, France
File:Livingstatue2.JPG|Barcelona, Spain
Image:Estatuahumana.JPG|Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Image:performance.art.london.arp.500pix.jpg|Jubilee Gardens, London
Image:Street artist2.jpg| "Silver man" at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
Image:SilverMan.jpg|Street performer spray painting silver in Edinburgh
Image:Living statue Vienna.jpg|Vienna, Austria
Image:Mozartruaaugusta.jpg|Lisbon, Portugal
Image:living.statue.in.rome.arp.jpg|Rome, Italy
Image:Macau Venetian Macao White Artist Ba.jpg|The Venetian Macao, Macau
Image:Statues Berlin.JPG|Pariser Platz, Berlin
Image:GlosStatue.JPG|Gloucester, England
Image:Living Statue Fairy.jpeg|Fairy, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
Image:Living Statue in Leon, Mexico.jpg|A Living Statue seen in the Downtown of Leon, Mexico
File:Predator, Royal Mile Edinburgh, 2013.JPG|Living statue of a Predator in Edinburgh, Scotland
File:Living Art Statues Sydney Art Gallery NSW (9014173965).jpg|Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
Image:Italian pavilion statue.jpg|Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, Bay Lake, Florida
File:Living statue of D. B. Cooper.JPG|Living statue of D. B. Cooper in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Image:Homme statue - 214.jpg|Annecy, France
See also
External links
