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Aliving statue, also known as ahuman statue, usually refers to a performer who poses as astatue ormannequin, usually with realistic statue-likemakeup.
Living statue may also refer toart installations created by an artist using living people, or other works created by a performing artist.
Thetableau vivant, or group of living statues, was a regular feature of medieval andRenaissance festivities and pageantry, such asroyal 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 dancerOlga 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").[1] The English tradition continued until the English law was changed in the 1960s.
A living statue appeared in a scene of the 1945 French filmLes enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise). TheLondon-based artistsGilbert and George created living statues in the 1960s.
Contemporary performances are commonly on-the-streetbusking 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.[citation needed] These performers, also known as human statues,[2] are often completely covered in paint, often gold or silver in colour.[3]
Australian artistAndrew Baines is known for his artworks using living people, often used to convey a social message.[4]
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
Since 1996, the annual World Statues Festival is held inArnhem,Netherlands, initially under the name "Rijnfestijn",[5] now World Living Statues and Statues by Night.[6][7]
Since 2000, theUniversity of Business and Social Sciences inBuenos Aires,Argentina has hosted a National Contest of Living Statues.[8]
Since 2011, the International Festival of Living Statues has been hosted by Masca Theatre inBucharest, Romania, where there is a focus on developing the form through artistic research.[9][10]
The first completely Living Statues Festival started in the city of Espinho, Portugal, in 1997.[11][12]
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