NY Bodypainting Day

Photo of my completely nude pregnant model walking the streets of New York City.

Photo from The Gothamist / Photo by Scott Lynch

I was lucky enough to participate in NYC Bodypainting Day, held on July 18 as one of their featured artists. This event was put on by my colleague, Andy Golub, who fought and won several court cases for artist's rights regarding nude body painting. The theme for the event was "What the World Needs Now".

My fiancé and I woke up early that morning in New Jersey and caught a train into New York City.
While on the train, we brainstormed a concept for my model, who was pregnant. What does the world need now? Positive Changes, aka Rebirth. So it was only fitting to paint a Phoenix, the ultimate creature of rebirth, on my model.

We arrived in NYC, then caught a cab to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, in the heart of Manhattan, where the event was taking place. The 75 participating artists and well over 100 models were already in line to register. I saw artists I recognized from across the country along with many new faces, all excited to be part of the event.
To no one’s surprise, about 100 photographers were also already there, and ready to photograph the models! As the day went on hundreds of additional photographers arrived to photograph our art (and a few nude models too).

My model, who I was randomly assigned prior to the event, just so happened to be behind me in line giving us a chance to chat before the painting started. After registering, I walked into a roped off section in the square, to a pre-designated spot assigned to me to paint in. My model was there waiting for me, both nervous and excited. I told her I was going to paint her as a Phoenix. Her eyes lit up, as she let out a, “ No way! That's crazy! My guy and I agreed that if we had a boy we would be naming him Phoenix". How great was that? To add to the craziness, a Cuban documentary film crew came over, and both cameramen had phoenix tattoos on their forearm. Perhaps it was a sign?

I was surrounded by other incredible artists painting about every possible variation of human being... every ethnicity, body shape, age, and orientation. It was an incredible sight!!! We all dove in and painted our assigned models with a palette of 6 colors already selected for us.

4 short hours later, the models were done - and then they walked the streets of New York City to the UN Building.

Nudity is not something to be ashamed of. Body painting is for everyone and we are all works of art.

 

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BEHIND THE SCENES

 

 

Photo by Dez Santana

 

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EVENT PHOTOS

 

Photo by Ruben Garcia

 

Photo by Victor Mirontschuk

 

Photo by 6 Round Studio (Orlando, FL)

 

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PRESS

 

DAILY NEWS

Check out my video interview by Cat Sandoval for the Daily News...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5wRkBKmX34

 

MASHABLE

 

Electric Daisy Carnival

 

  

In a dessert land of kandi jewelry (those brightly colored bead bracelets you made as a kid), PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity & Respect - the mantra of the festival) and scorching heat you will find the biggest electronic dance festival in the country, the Electric Daisy Carnival.

My client, Smirnoff Vodka, hired my team and I to add something fun and exciting to the Smirnoff Lounge located in the heart of the festival. Beneath psychedelic towering owls, dragon and daisies we painted UV designs on the face and bodies of thousands of attendees. The event was like nothing I have ever seen! Marching bands consisting of crazy clowns, giant teapots you could climb in, stilt walkers, dragon dancers and giant ferris wheels….it was visual overload at every turn!

From the moment the sun went down we had a line of people, eager to be painted and ready to glow! Throughout the night, we all took turns checking out the festival, and it’s mesmerizing array of visual stimulus. In fact the festival was so big you could actually get lost! By the end of night one we were ready for some sleep at 3:30 am, but the parking lot had other plans! Apparently 400,000 other people also thought they needed to rest up for day two. The result? Sitting in the parking lot for 4 hours!!! That’s right, when all was said and done, we didn’t reach our comfy rooms at the Bellagio until 9am!!!! Time for a nap and then back again for night two!

On day two, we somehow ended up on the actual race track of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so we took a quick spin (have I ever mentioned my fiancé is a speed demon??) then rocked it all out again!  A quicker escape from the parking lot that night ensured we were well rested and ready for the next day.

On day three, we woke up and exited the hotel around lunch time. So the day started with the best sushi in Vegas, Sushi Twister!!! After we had our fill of tasty rolls, it was time for the final night of EDC. Now you would think after three days the attendees would be showing signs of exhaustion, but NO! Everyone seemed more excited and more energetic than the previous nights!! The energy and excitement was catching and we all had a blast!!

In the wee hours of the morning we bid farewell to that strange and beautiful rave city and returned to the real world, still wondering did we really see a giant dancing caterpillar??

Hard Summer

Billed as “Not a RAVE” it was the opposite of our recent project with Smirnoff at EDC. There were no fireworks, glowing owls or giant flowers, but there WERE 130,000 fans ready to party! The Smirnoff Rendezvous hangar boasted the only air conditioning at the festival so it was packed!! The backdrop and eyebrow design for the booth was also designed by yours truly!!!  Once again we had a assembly line of artists building on the design, but the team was all airbrush this time. The Spoon U theme was the brain child of electronic dance music DJ and personality Dillon Francis, as a comedic nod to headliner DJ artist, Jack ü.  Spoons were everywhere, and the client couldn’t be happier!  My amazing team and I were so busy at times we were cranking out one tattoo every 10 seconds!!!