5 "Body" artists

Robert Gober incorporates the body into everyday domestic objects that someone could find in their house. He uses sculpture in a way that looks as if the body part is meant to be there because he blends it with whatever object he is using. Gober doesn't present the whole body only pieces of it but the viewer still gets the essences that a figure is there. For example in one of his pieces he features a sink but instead of having knobs he puts two legs. 

Untitled
Ana Menadieta

Kiki Smith

Tony Oursler

Fruit
Tim Hawkinson

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Robert Gober

Ana Mendieta features the human body in her work but in a more eerie way. In some of her work she presents it as if the body "were"  there but is now gone indicating that the person is possibly dead. In other work she covers that human body with material from nature to make it look as if it became a part of the earth but the body outline is still very prominent.  Mendieta's work is very interesting and leaves the viewer with a different feeling because of her difference portrayal of the human body. 

Tim Hawkinson uses the human body in his work by exaggerating body parts or multiplying them.  A great deal of his work features hands and fingers but in a way that gives different meaning to them.  Hawkinson does work in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and sound. His work tells a story and I believe encourages the viewer to look at human body parts in different ways then what they are normally used for. Beyond that the size of his work can fill a room which also makes a statement in itself. 

Tony Oursler's work is focused more on the human face and in a comical way. He exaggerates the features of a face such as the eyes, nose, and lips. Oursler doesn't necessarily stay true to the human face normally is but instead takes separate features and makes his own interpretation. I think his intention is to have to viewer look at the human body in a humorous way and also to make us realize that we should embrace things we have see as flaws on our body. Oursler's work is very interesting and is like nothing I have seen before. 

Kiki Smith does such a beautiful job at sculpting the human body but each of her works, I feel, has a different story about the body. She is very good at featuring the body in different positions which, gives the viewer a whole new dimension or outlook on the body. Some of her work is of a human form emerging out of another living creature which, creates a story that may have different meaning to each viewer. Smith's work features the body in a concrete way but also makes the viewer think deeper about what she is portraying .