Golub Human Canvas

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.

Andy Golub at the Ungisphere

The Ungisphere is the code-/brand name for the territory and people arranged by my friends Ungie, Loren, and others at the Bryant Park Monday movie (details here: http://saomsdangledthreads.blogspot.com/2010/07/ungisphere.html.) With its ample space, and central location in an extremely high-traffic environment with an effectively captive audience, it makes for a rather good spot for public performance art.
To amuse ourselves during the 4-hour squat, as well as the crowd, (and or "gods",) we invited Andy Golub to perform one of his signature live public nude full body paintings at the Ungisphere. It went down a little something like this:

(Simulation of the) (Conjectured) Reactions of the (Adults in the) Crowd

This man, who--were he an actor--would be intractably typecast as a cop, began to approach when the nipples came out. He stopped about 20 yards out, and upon completion of his phone call, left, never to be seen again.

Click click clickety-clickety-click click

Art Preservation

Since 2007 the Ungisphere has employed Cactus Pete as its beacon; a visual aide to help people arriving later to find the territory. Over the years the consistency, uniqueness, and utility by not only the Ungisphericans, but also the other groups nearby have made Cactus Pete something of an icon amongst Bryant Park moviegoers, event staff, and the many reporters, photographers, and publicity seekers in the orbit of this event. Other regulars, who don't know the internal names Ungisphere or Lorangeland, often refer to the the group as the Cactus Crew.

Without prior discussion or suggestion, the design Golub created derived from and expanded on the iconography of Cactus Pete. By all accounts, a stroke of genius!

Scandalized kids. ... Quote-unquote.