Andy Golub - Primer

Andy Golub is an iconic artist specializing in live full-body, often fully-nude, body-painting in high-traffic public places; most notably Times Square in New York City, and in front of "establishment" Art institutions.

Since the paintings are created live in public, animated as the paintee(s) roams through the environment for photos, and fleeting--lasting only until the next shower--they can be considered more a performance than a painting.

Most of his public performances are completely non-commercial. Golub does not solicit tips or fees and donates his time, skills, and supplies. The paintees volunteer to be painted (sometimes compete for it,) as does any support crew and production personnel on large complicated endeavors. And the many photographers and camera-weilding passers-by who photograph the process and completed work (the performance) do so at their own cost, and retain ownership of their images, with only the gentleman's agreement to credit Golub wherever the images are published.

Golub gained significant notoriety in 2011 following an incident in which the fully-nude model he had painted (Zoe West) was arrested and detained (illegally.) The ensuing suit was settled by the City of New York, clearing the way for regular performances of this type in Times Square, outside the Guggenheim Museum, and other very public sites.