Naked Artist
as it appeared in Westender, May 23rd, 2002
article written by Mary Frances Hill
Please see the easy to read text version below.
|
press clipping for Naked Artist as it appeared in Westender, May 23rd, 2002 article written by Mary Frances Hill Please see the easy to read text version below. |
|
| URBAN
LEGENDS Who: Darcy Schmidt, also known as Naked Artist. What: Performance artist who strolls around Vancouver in his own costumes designed to resemble naked male and female bodies. Schmidt, who has worked as a squeegee window cleaner in his "naked" suits, is most active in spring and summer, when he sports his hot-pink buff male naked suit in public, complete with three-foot long 'member' crafted from a dryer hose. Roots: Born and raised in a middle-class household in Port Alberni, B.C., one of four children of a mill worker and homemaker. Studied art at the University of Ottawa, and lived in that city for 13 years. Free Willy: Schmidt has created more than a dozen costumes for his organized shows and impromptu street appearances. "The first big costume I made was a penis outfit for a performance art piece in 1996. I did a genital piercing demonstration on it for a crowd. I talked about the cultural and historical significance of piercings. I showed it all on my 'body': "This one goes through the scrotum, these go through the head...'At the end I had a big swig of booze, and I got a wooden skewer and put it through a pre-pierced section of the costume. You could hear guys going, 'Ughhhhh...'" Yeah. Joe Clark's a gas: Schmidt lived in Ottawa for 13 years. "People from other places might think, 'Ottawa, what's going on in Ottawa?' But there's a small scene, people really know each other, and it's a community thatt really fosters creativity. It's known as a town for government workers, bureaucrats, and really tight-assed. So you go that much further to offend, or be wicked or lewd." The answer is yes: "A lot of people are offended by any kind of sexual content. Then there's everyone else. They're not used to seeing this on the street. A lot of people might want to react, but they're not sure if I'm a freak or not." Salt 'n' Pepa got it right the first time: "People are only interested in two things: sex or death. I'm not interested in death, but I'm really interested in sex, sexuality, the politics of sex, and gender issues. Being gay, the biggest thing for me was to define myself sexually. So I started doing a lot of work that was rooted in homosexual politics. But then I thought, 'I'm an artist first, I'm gay second.'" Sorry Mom. Gotta do the penis thing: "A lot of the artists at my art school were activists, who did really political art. It was exciting. I used to do flower paintings, paintings of cats, and still lifes. The French have a word for still life: Vie Mort. Dead life. I did all these little paintings that were all so nice and saleable. But I wanted to do something that had meaning, and sex had major meaning to me." |
| Darcy Schmidt Design |
go to: | live art | costumes | sexy fish | paintings | video |
| home | naked project |
special feature |
artist cv | about Darcy |
contact & links |