Credit: GIF by Anthony Antonellis
UPDATE: Our calendar and prints are now available! Donate here for your free calendar!
What do nude pandas look like? What do naked artists wearing panda hats look like? On November 18, 2014, those questions you never asked will be answered. This is the date we launch Art F City’s 2015 panda calendar and print series, Artists as Pandas in the Nude—it will be an event to behold. All calendars and prints will be available for FREE with a tax-deductible donation to the blog.
Check back on the 18th and GET READY FOR SOME FUR.
The reasons for doing a project like this are absurd. On October 1, 2013, the United States government shut down, indefinitely furloughing 800,000 federal employees, causing 19,000 children to lose access to government funded meals and medical screenings, and cutting off the Smithsonian’s live panda cam feed. Just days after Mei Xiang delivered her cub Bao Bao, the panda cam went dark.
Spirits were at an all-time low. So Art F City decided to fill the void left by the panda cam, dressing up as pandas and livestreaming ourselves 24/7 throughout the shutdown. We hosted all kinds of panda-related activities; we held bamboo drawing sessions, live panda animation, and even panda aerobics. But mostly, we sat around in silence typing on our keyboards. Finally, the art world’s fascination with the mundane aligned with the public’s interest in watching the mundane.
This 2015 calendar of nude artists in panda hats is the last iteration of this project and the most ambitious. It includes 12 amazing photographs by Rachel Stern picturing artists, dealers, and writers and an AFC selected list of all the major art events for the coming year. (Plus a few of the more essential dates in the calendar year, including International Caps Lock Day, and Donut Day.) This one-of-a-kind calendar will be free with the donation to Art F City of $50 or more, starting November 18. For a donation of $250 or more you can purchase a limited-edition print.
This work wouldn’t be possible without the creative talent we constantly seek out on the blog. So credit where credit is due:
Paddy Johnson, Creative Director
Rachel Stern, Photography
Marsha Owett, Production
Phillip Niemeyer/Northern Southern, Graphic Designer
Whitney Kimball, Associate Director/Editor
Corinna Kirsch, Associate Director/Editor
Ben Macaulay, Horoscope Editor
Anthony Antonellis, GIF Director
Models: Jason Andrew, Art F City (Paddy Johnson, Whitney Kimball, Corinna Kirsch, and Matthew Leifheit), Nayland Blake, Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw, Allegra LaViola, Rollin Leonard, Mike and Claire, Rebecca Patek, Xaviera Simmons, Molly Soda, Marc Swanson, and Martha Wilson
Questions? Send us an email at paddy@artfcity.com.
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