body artist, n.
Brit. /ˈbɒdɪ ˌɑːtɪst/, U.S. /ˈbɑdi ˌɑrdəst/
[‹ body n. + artist n., after body art n.]
1. A person who decorates or ornaments others' bodies, esp. professionally; a practitioner of body art (body art n. 1), esp. a tattooist.
| 1967 Washington Post 6 Aug. b1/3 His canvas was the belly of a teen-age blonde... ‘Like, man, it's a paint-in,’ one of the body artists explained. 1981 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 29 Oct. 19 ‘Tattoo’ is about a demented ‘body artist’ who kidnaps a model and inks a mural on her skin. 1997 J.-C. Miller Body Art Bk. viii. 109 Body artists are as diverse a group as they come. While plenty of tattooists and piercers are versatile.., there are also quite a few that specialize. 2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 May ix. 9/4 A stockbroker type..ripped open his oxford shirt and pranced over to a body artist applying henna. |
2. An artist who uses his or her body as a medium; a performer or creator of body art (body art n. 2).
| 1971 N.Y. Times 25 July d22/1 He got on the pipe to a number of outdoor site responders—conceptualists, ‘process’ and ‘body’ artists (who use their own anatomy as a medium). 1996 Guardian 2 Apr. ii. 8/4 Cynics have already suggested that, by asking questions about the body and its limits, the body artists may be art's millenialist [sic] tendency. 2001 Book Jan.–Feb. 63/1 She's the body artist, a sort of conceptual/performance artist who contorts her flesh to render physical metaphysical states. |