Say goodbye to Bodypainting Day, New York's annual celebration of nudes and artistry.
Date: 2023-07-28 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: NEWS 18+, NU ART
If you've ever dreamed of standing naked in New York with dozens of strangers while artists turn your skin into art, you may have missed your chance.
Bodypainting Day Sunday will be the last after more than a decade of artists turning nudes into works of art.
Organizer Andy Golub expects more than 50 people to be painted over the course of four hours at Manhattan's Union Square. Golub decided that this year's event would be the last one because it was time to "move on and clear this plate." He said he wants to find different ways to empower and bring people together, including a new event next spring.
After Sunday's body painting is completed, Golub said the participating artists and models will march through Greenwich Village, pose for photos in Washington Square Park, ride a double-decker bus over the Manhattan Bridge, and end the day with a party in Brooklyn.
Golub, an artist and free speech activist who has been painting nude models since 2007, launched an annual bodypainting extravaganza to highlight that artistic nudity is legal in New York City.
This did not stop the police from trying to stop the event. In 2011, Golub said he and two models were arrested and detained for 24 hours, but the charges were dropped once authorities determined they had done nothing illegal.
"You'll find that a lot of people are really affected positively," Golub said. “Mostly models, but also artists, and it feels like they've come out of their skin. And it was a really positive experience of a real celebration of freedom.”
Previous iterations of the event have been held at Columbus Circle, Times Square, and other iconic locations in the city.
All participants, models and artists must be over 18, but the Sunday event was no longer accepting entries.
