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The Law of Adrianattraction

Through a turn of fortuitous (and perhaps not-so-coincidental) events, Dani recently had the pleasure of working with one of her all-time favorite models, Adriana Lima, as her makeup artist on the set of an upcoming campaign. It’s not the first time they’ve worked together, either – Adriana was one of our OG Monster Mash Salon clients, and she and Dani worked together during the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2015.

It’s true that certain people seem to circle back into our lives, seemingly by chance… but Dani has another notion. Maybe this is more the case of: put out what you want, and who you want to surround yourself with, and lo and behold, it (or they) will come to you. In any case, working alongside Adriana always puts Dani in good spirits, as she’s someone with real heart and soul who isn’t afraid to show it. Which, if you know anything about The Body of Art, then you know that we’re all about authenticity, thoughtfulness, and human-to-human connection. Also glitter. We love glitter.

Here are some of Dani’s thoughts on her history with Adriana, and how their meeting got her gears turning about that little “Law of Attraction”:

“In my experience, I don’t get star struck – hardly ever. When you work with your fair share of celebrities, and see them almost every day on the street, you start to look at them as one and the same as yourself. You observe how they interact with you and often wonder if it’s really them, or just something they put on… whether it’s a negative or positive experience. But I truly believe that what you perceive in your mind, you will attract to you. And I have had some very notably lovely experiences meeting celebrities. But literally the angel of all of them is my girl Adriana. She’s genuine, authentic, attentive, and loving, but very steadfast to her beliefs, and so positively grateful for most every moment. Adriana is just as present with you as you are with her and her humbleness makes her more beautiful than any model or celebrity I’ve ever encountered.”

We’re doing our darnedest to envision what we want, and who we want to work with. If you feel like this is up your alley, or something we’ve said today struck a chord with you, we want to know about it. Email us at info@thebodyofart.com if you’ve got ideas, projects, questions, proposals, deep thoughts… we’re all ears.

Mermaid + Unicorn + Rainbow = Happy Dani

Ever heard of the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, New York City? In a nutshell, it’s a day in summertime when ladies, lads, and all the folks in between come out to celebrate the wacky, the beautiful, and the downright improper wonders of humanity. All of the Mermaids and their naughty nautical friends band together to celebrate diversity, individual expression, and pretty much debauchery in general — a very necessary release for many of us tightly-wound New Yorkers. While the Mermaid Parade is a wild release for many, it’s also an opportunity to practice our rights as free Americans to be whomever we wish.

You may remember that Dani, our founder and lead artist here at The Body of Art, took part in the Women’s March this past winter through a flashmob dance group called Dance Suit Nation. It consisted of around twenty-five women who organized a female empowerment dance (a là Rosie the Riveter) to be performed in front of Trump Tower, which was conveniently located at the end of the parade route. Needless to say, Dance Suit Nation’s performance was a hit, and they banded together several times throughout the March to repeat their syncopated boogie. They even took to the subway days after to spread the joy and solidarity of their message, to the delight of many iPhone-holding commuters.

The matching white blazers-and-trousers of Dance Suit Nation was a sight to behold, but the Mermaid Parade is something of a different ilk: according to Dani, it’s a “boobs-out, all the glitter, all the glory, transforming into superheroes for a few hours” kind of experience. Many of the women in Dance Suit Nation also belong to this exact troupe of Mermaid performers, and they call themselves The Tailshakers (formerly known as The Sexcamaids). Personally, Dani prefers the individual label “Mermacorn,” but you get the idea — these ladies are taking the reigns and unleashing their inner “nasty woman” through wigs, costume, makeup, and dance.

Those of you who know Dani can probably see why she was attracted to such a group of bad bitches. After doing the Tailshakers’ makeup and body paint designs for seven years, Dani was finally convinced to join the ranks. And this year’s color palette was the whole freakin’ rainbow: each dancer donned a rainbow-sequin-fringe-gauntlet on their arm, and the rows of dancers color-coordinated to form a human ROYGBIV. Clearly, even The Tailshakers is about more than personal expression; the Mermaid Parade as a whole is about celebrating the diversity of humanity, in all its varied hues.

Don’t get us wrong — all of us here at BoA are all for professionalism and tact. But sometimes, it helps to let out the inner… fantastical alter-ego.

So… hit us up if you’re feeling the itch.

P.S. Halloween is basically only 100 days away. Just sayin’.

Meditating on TRAVERSE

It’s been about a month since TRAVERSE, our group art exhibition here in New York City, and we want to take a moment to acknowledge and reflect upon the magic of the experience. We won’t lie to you – curating an exhibition is hard work, and having leadership training, as many of us here at the Body of Art do, comes in handy when organizing an art show. We had our fair share of challenges, but we’re proud to say that the evening went off without a hitch. All of our blood, sweat, and tears were worth the impact that the show had on our community – on the friends, family, and many passers-by who ventured into our world.

Now, we are left with the imprint of our work, the memories of that extraordinary night, and an overflowing sense of gratitude for everyone and everything that made TRAVERSE a living, breathing thing.

Thank you to our participating artists: Katy Ramirez, Yvonne MacInnis, Viktorija Bowers-Adams, Joe Dulude II, Charlie Wan, Trina Merry, Kyle and Ange of The Art Rising, Sunny Quetzalcoatl, and Hannah of Violetsound Dance. You believed in our vision, and you so generously contributed your time, energy, and most importantly, your art.

Thank you to our photographers, Kenell Turner of SeenSound and Kelsey Smith of Tarte Cosmetics, for capturing the experience and enabling this night to live on.

Thank you to our staff and volunteers: you all brought that extra element that made the show a dynamic, functioning, seamless experience for our guests.

Thank you to Michelle from Chinatown Soup, our gallery, for hosting us and supporting our dream.

Thank you to the friends, family, and fellow New Yorkers who supported us and showed up to the show. Sharing our vision with you was the most important piece of this puzzle, and without you, we would not have had a purpose.

Thank you to the city of New York which, compared to a lot of other places in the world, promotes a cultural platform that encourages artists and citizens to speak their truth without fear of punishment. Our city isn’t perfect, but we recognize how lucky we are to host a show like TRAVERSE with our whole hearts.

And last but certainly not least, thank you to the United States government for reminding us how vital it is to remain vigilant, engaged, and critical, and for lighting a fire under our asses so that we may fight to protect our precious democracy.

We ain’t finished yet.

With love and light,

Dani and Tara, co-curators

 

TRAVERSE: Curated by Dani Fonseca

If you watch the news every night and face palm/eye roll/ shake your head and feel emotionally and physically drained and affected by the current state of government and political dialogue…

If you have wanted to be a part of a conversation that feels like it’s unified, inspiring, forward moving…

And beyond that do you want to attend a one night only pop up immersive Exhibition where all the artists are amazing influential beings in their industry with renowned successes and very interesting points of view?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, and you have not yet heard of TRAVERSE on June 2nd at Chinatown Soup, to join myself, Tara Carrara, Yvonne MacInnis, Joe Dulude II, Trina Merry, Charlie Wan, Katy Ramirez, Viktorija Bowers Adams, Angé Lune, Kyle Doodle Block and Sunny Quetzalcoatl for an unforgettable evening…

Then what F@*k are you waiting for?

Click here to find out more about this one-night-only art experience!

RSVP here at our Facebook Page!
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Get Freaky

By now, you probably know that The Body of Art is comprised of many talented, diverse artists – our team is a colorful spectrum of body painters, hairstylers, tattooers, lash extenders, costumers, airbrushers, modelers… you name it, we’ve got it. But did you know that The Body of Art is also a proud colony of nerds?

Art Imitates Earth: The Promise of Spring

We don’t know about you… but we women at The Body of Art are ecstatic about Spring. Here in New York City, tiny buds are yawning their little mouths open and the breeze is breathing warmth into our souls. We’ve been waiting for this. It’s been a long winter — for the whole world, seemingly — and while we’re grateful for our time spent hunkering down in the studio, we can’t wait to see all of our hard artistic work released into the world in this next season.

AB/EX: The Human Urge to Shout it Out

We’re not pretending otherwise: times are tough, and the human condition, in all its glory, is emerging unveiled more and more each day. All of us at The Body of Art have felt the intensity of our country’s condition in the last few months, and though it’s been turbulent, we’re getting the urge to create more than ever.

History of Monster Mash Salon

When you look back at how you came up with the idea to start something that eventually grew to be amazing, and more than what you thought it could be…sometimes you find that it did not start the way most would think. Our Monster Mash Salon is about to enter it’s eighth season in serving New York City’s most eclectic Halloween enthusiasts with over-the-top feature film worthy make up applications. I honestly cannot believe how much it’s grown and how awesome the clientele has been in past years. We even have some never fail veterans that continue to push the boundaries of their costumes every year, giving us new and exciting challenges.

Rebirth of BoA

For the past 10 years, The Body of Art team has been providing NYC with fascinating high end body art. From music videos to event entertainment, editorial beauty to guts and gore, we’ve done it all. But what is the mission for our artwork? What are we aiming to create?

It’s time for a new BoA, bigger and better.  A new website, a new brand, a new purpose.

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