Body artists get ready for first national awards

They've made their mark in film, rugby magazine covers and even on politicians. Now body artists have their first national awards show.

The inaugural New Zealand Body Arts Awards will be held in Auckland's North Shore on Saturday, and organiser Mem Bourke hopes it will become an annual event.

Ms Bourke said the awards would not only celebrate body art but also hoped it would help the career prospects of many of the artists.

"There's a lot of young graduates who specialised in special body effects, mask making and other body artists who have found it difficult to get their work out to the public since they graduated," Ms Bourke said.

"There's a lot of talent out there and I thought an event like this would give them a platform to show what they are capable of."

Helping the cause of the awards is the presence of the country's best-known costume and effects artist - Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor.

"He said he had been thinking about doing it for two years himself but hadn't had the time," Ms Bourke said.

"He was very supportive of the idea and he's a major sponsor of the awards and will be one of the judges."

Weta Workshop's ability with prosthetics, masks and special effects is well-known, having earned make-up Oscars for their work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Narnia.

But Ms Bourke says New Zealand has also produced other body artists with an international reputation. Most notable is probably Joanne Gair, a body painter who came to prominence when painting a pregnant Demi Moore for her Vanity Fair magazine front cover photograph.

"She unfortunately can't make it but her father George Gair (a former National Cabinet Minister and North Shore Mayor) will be there," Ms Bourke said.

New Zealand body painters have made their mark in several ways locally, including with painting of models for rugby magazine promotions.

Another who turned to a body painter was Green MP Keith Locke, who strode up Auckland's Newmarket shopping area after saying he would run naked through Newmarket if ACT leader Rodney Hide won the Epsom seat at last year's election.

Awards will be handed out for several forms of body art: hand painted, spray painted, fluorescent, masquerade, masks, special effects creatures, and costume.

The awards will be held at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore on Saturday night.

- NZPA