Cuerpos Pintados (Painted Bodies) is an art project designed to explore the diversity of the human body, to stimulate prejudice-free perception in viewers and to strengthen the esteem and respect that every human body deserves.

After several years of preparation, the first exhibition of Cuerpos Pintados took place in 1991, in conjunction with presentation of the book Cuerpos Pintados: 45 Artistas Chilenos (Painted Bodies: 45 Chilean Artists). The exhibition, which traveled to 32 museums around the world, consisted of photographs by Roberto Edwards of works by Chilean artists painted directly on naked bodies.
In 1992, the focus of the project changed fundamentally: the initial experience led to interesting alternatives worthy of exploration.
The invitation to participate was extended to artists from all over the Americas and beyond. We also included body painting and corporal adornment from native cultures of Patagonia, Africa, India, Papua New Guinea and other areas. Photographers were invited to show their personal vision of the human body and composers to create music exclusively with body sounds, instead of traditional musical instruments.
This exhibition offers a summary of all the material produced in the last decade.
Ongoing observation of the great variety of bodies encountered during the evolution of Cuerpos Pintados produced important modifications in our form of perceiving the human body.
One surprising result was the discovery that no body is “ugly”, just as there is no ugly flower, animal, or tree: only variety and beautiful diversity.
Perhaps what constitutes the basic beauty of the human body is, indeed, its limitless diversity. Another important development was to envision the naked human body without its customary erotic charge, stimulating us to appreciate an infinite number of additional interpretations beyond this limiting view of the body.
Cuerpos Pintados is a project of Fundación América, a non-profit foundation. No participating artist, model or specialist receives remuneration. The eventual profits from exhibitions and sales of products of Cuerpos Pintados are reinvested by Fundación America in diverse social and cultural projects, such as FotoAmérica or the IntegrArte program.

The IntegrArte Program
IntegrArte, conceived by Fundación América, focuses its resources on social integration. We have produced a variety of workshops in the areas of theater, photography, dance and art, in which people with social or physical differences are invited to interact.
As in Cuerpos Pintados, where a constant connection with the human body permitted us to discover the beauty of its diversity and overcome our prejudices, we sensed that a reiterative contact with the ‘body’ of our society could also produce a change in previously prevailing attitudes.
Although the human being is very diverse, our superficial glance and our prejudices prevent us from appreciating so many different realities.
Based on the criteria used to develop Cuerpos Pintados, we created a program to stimulate sustained observation of new realities prior to voicing judgments. This process helps to assimilate different values and discover the hidden potential of each individual, as well as learn from our differences.
With this purpose in mind, IntegrArte began to bring together people of diverse social origin, age, activities, physical appearance and education in stimulating art-related workshops, encouraging the sharing of common tasks and an unprejudiced observation of others.
A typical workshop is composed of a group of twenty people, including an adolescent, a housewife, a well-known businessman, someone with physical disabilities, a civil servant, and a soldier, all with different backgrounds, educations, and physical appearances.
One example of an IntegrArte workshop was ¡Pa’ que veái! Twenty blind people of diverse backgrounds, educations and ages were invited to create their first photographic self-portraits, paintings and sculptures for an exposition which traveled across Chile.