ANDY GOLUB: Street Art

reporter/photographer: Miguel Dominguez

Thursday night is the traditional gallery opening night in the Chelsea Art District of New York, when  a sizable number of galleries create a Fair like atmosphere offering new art to admire, with throngs of art lovers hopping from venue to venue as part of a unique socio/cultural event.

On September 11th, as I got to the heart of the district at the corner of 11th Avenue and 23rd street, I bumped into notorious (and to some, infamous) bodypainting artist Andy Golub, with some of his models in the midst of creating some much needed street art in an area where all of it is kept indoors. It was a much appreciated welcome to a very busy night of gallery reporting.

People know Andy Golub for his live bodypainting in the streets of New York City. In the summer of 2011, police arrested him along with several of his models. But with the help of lawyer Ron Kuby and the NYCLU, the city has finally acknowledged that public nudity is legal if it's part of an artistic expression.

Andy believes that art shouldn't be limited to canvases or bound to be in only indoor spaces. He makes up the art as he goes, because he believes that the present is as important as any other moment. To Andy, art is about self-discovery and sharing it with people.