For over a century, our region has been home to extraordinary artists. Local Arts Index highlights the work of individuals who continue our community’s rich creative legacy.
Meet public bodypainter Andy Golub, whose work was recently featured on The Late Show with David Letterman.
How Did You Become an Artist?
I started doodling in class when I was in middle school. After a while it was what I needed to do to get through the day. I was always listening to the teacher, but I needed to do something else to occupy my mind.
When I went to college, I was a business major and an art minor. The business part didn’t work out too well, so at some point I just flipped my major and minor. Drawings turned into paintings. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, I started making very large paintings on boards. It seems that the art is always changing in one way or another.
What Kind of Art do you Make?
I paint on canvases, but also on objects, such as cars, murals, mannequins as well as human bodies. I started bodypainting 7 years ago and it has been a great experience.
Painting an object is sort of a collaboration between me and the object, responding to it’s form. But painting on a person also involves the model’s energy and personality. Generally I draw a lot of faces in my art. Some of it is very abstract and colorful, but there are almost always faces in one form or another made from my imagination.
What’s Your Muse?
Someone once said that all art is autobiographical. When I’m drawing or painting by myself, it’s about me and how I feel. But when I’m painting on another person, the art is usually an interpretive painting. I feed off of the models energy and it inspires pieces that I would not otherwise ever do.
What’s Next?
I’ve been doing a lot of live, public bodypainting of late. I really enjoy sharing this unique form of art with the public. And I think it shows that the body can be seen as part of art and not always associated with sexuality. I’m not really sure what’s next. Maybe more of the same. That being said, my art seems to continuously progress, so I think we’ll all have to find out as it goes.
To see more visit andygolub.com.
Local Arts Index is sponsored by Maria Luisa, 77 South Broadway and ML Gifts & Accessories, 75 South Broadway, Nyack, NY
