A New York artist isn’t camouflaging her political outrage over the Trump presidency — but she is masking nude models in paint and turning them into literal works of art.
In fact, Trina Merry is painting them into the world’s most expensive artworks and photographing the results.
The 36-year-old Merry chose the top 20 most expensive paintings in the world, then photographed her naked models overlapping the canvases.
While she began her body painting niche after being struck by lightning, according to Caters News, this latest project is special to her. Titled “Lust of Currency,” the theme was inspired by Trump’s controversial decision to cut the National Endowment for the Arts.
The passionate painter hopes to draw attention to the value of art and the booming market, which recently saw a Basquiat piece sell for $110.5million. No originals were harmed in the name of Merry’s art: she prints copies of the famous masterpieces to use with her nude models.
“I wanted to talk about why the economy is so ridiculous,” Merry said. “The Dow Jones is the highest it’s ever been but Trump wants to abolish National Endowment of the Arts. It’s a bizarre dichotomy of culture.”
Merry’s foray into the body painting apparently started after a retreat into California’s Yosemite National Park after being struck by lightning.
“I was living in LA at the time and the lightning strike made me sensitive to electricity, so I moved to Yosemite National Park to escape the electrical lines,” she told Caters.
“While I was there my friend’s band was playing and they had body painting on stage, they talked me to standing on stage and getting body painted myself.”
She’s come a long way since: Trina will be presenting Lust of Currency with her team of 20 performers, including a live painting, at the Con Artist Gallery in New York, June 3 – 5.
You can learn more about Trina’s work via her website here.
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