About Bodypaint.Me

Bodypaint.Me is a creative crew of painters, models, photographers, performers, and immersive artists. We work from the belief that creating together changes the energy, the experience, and the people in the room.

Founded in 2010 in Philadelphia, Bodypaint.Me grew out of a culture of collaboration, experimentation, and shared energy. People showed up, learned from each other, assisted, modeled, and created side by side. That spirit is still the core of everything we do.

The Story

Bodypaint.Me began in the underground spaces of Philadelphia. Lofts, courtyards, museums, and DIY venues. What started as a small experiment quickly became part of the city’s creative fabric, pulling in painters, photographers, performers, and anyone drawn to the idea of turning people into living canvases.

For two and a half years, Matt produced a weekly bodypaint party that became the heartbeat of the scene. Models, photographers, and performers came through week after week to learn the rhythm of the craft together. During this time, the project reached international audiences through television features in Japan and Europe, adding another layer to the momentum building around it.

As things grew, the bodypaint sessions expanded into festivals, nightclubs, protests, music videos, and large public activations. Entire crowds were painted for the Philly Naked Bike Ride, a global protest event co‑organized for six years. A full tableau was created for Animal Collective’s surprise album premiere, an image that ran in Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork and became the band’s worldwide tour poster. Bodypaint.Me appeared in national commercials, magazine covers, runway shows, and immersive brand activations, with coverage from outlets like the Associated Press, Architectural Digest, Billboard, Daily Mail, and WHYY.

During this period, New York City became a major part of the story. Bodypaint.Me was regularly brought in from Philadelphia for some of the biggest events in the city, working with clients who saw bodypainting not as a novelty but as a centerpiece. NYC sharpened the scale, the pace, and the ambition of the project, and it became a creative bridge between the early Philadelphia years and everything that followed.

Next, Bodypaint.Me was brought on to bodypaint inside large‑scale immersive experiences at major events — including Hard Summer, Lightning in a Bottle, Nocturnal Wonderland, and a Midsummer Night’s Dream event at the Playboy Mansion.

From there, a major chapter unfolded in Los Angeles, where the scale and visibility of Bodypaint.Me expanded again. Matt painted top YouTube creators on their shows, creating characters and illusions that reached millions of viewers. Celebrity mansion parties turned entire rooms into living installations. A long‑running series of blacklight bodypaint parties brought together some of the best bodypainters in the world. Bodypaint.Me stepped into the fashion world as well, with art exhibitions and live bodypainting moments at LA Fashion Week that led directly onto the red carpet.

Today, Bodypaint.Me is rooted in Charlotte. The landscape, the energy, and the creative hunger here make it the right place for what comes next. This is a return to producing bodypaint events with the same intention and momentum that shaped the early years, and the project is already growing again. Charlotte is the home base, but the vision reaches further. Plans are underway to expand into new markets throughout the Southeast with a return to the East Coast with a larger, connected network of living art events.

Our Philosophy

Bodypaint.Me follows the arthause philosophy. Arthause is the belief that art is something people step into, contribute to, and become part of. It treats the body as a living canvas and the room as a shared environment where creativity is shaped by everyone present. This approach guides everything we build, from blacklight bodypainting to ritual moments, cryptid manifestations, and collaborative stations where guests help create the visual landscape.

Arthause is not a style. It is a way of working that values participation, transformation, and community. It turns events into living installations and gives people a chance to express themselves inside a world that grows and changes throughout the night.

The Thing — Our Flagship Immersive Event

The Thing is the flagship event of Bodypaint.Me and the clearest expression of what we create. It is an arthause blacklight bodypaint experience built around transformation, ritual, and collective creativity. The night unfolds inside a glowing environment where guests are bodypainted, glittered, glow-stamped, stickered and adorned as part of a living installation. The experience includes cryptid manifestations, ceremonial moments, and guided interactions that turn the entire room into a collaborative artwork.

The Thing is not a show that people watch. It is a world that people enter. Every person becomes part of the visual landscape and every movement adds to the evolving artwork. The event evolves each time with new art, new rituals, new stations, and new ways for guests to participate.

Charlotte is the home base for The Thing, but the format is designed to travel. Cities that want to bring this kind of immersive blacklight bodypaint experience to their community can partner with Bodypaint.Me to host a local edition. Each city receives our creative direction, installations, and ritual structure while shaping the event with their own local energy. The long-term vision is a connected network of living art events across the country that share the same spirit while reflecting the identity of each place.

What We Do

Living Art Sessions
● Collaborative bodypaint in real time where painters, models, and photographers create together.

Immersive Events
● Large gatherings where the space transforms and the audience becomes part of the art.

Creative Workshops
● Hands-on learning for painters, models, photographers, and performers at every level.

Community Building
● A genuine creative ecosystem where people meet, grow, and make things together.

Get Involved

Bodypaint.Me is a community, not a closed circle. If you feel drawn to this kind of work, there is a place for you here.

Models
● No experience needed. Presence and curiosity matter more than anything else.

Painters and Artists
● We offer workshops, collaborative sessions, and occasional training for artists joining larger projects. If you paint, want to paint, or are curious about the craft, reach out and let us know where you’re coming from.

Photographers and Videographers
● Document sessions, build your portfolio, and help shape how the world sees this work.

Performers
● Dancers, aerialists, flow artists, circus performers, and movers of all kinds are part of the fabric of what we create.

Crew and Volunteers
● Help with setup, logistics, community support, and the ten thousand things that make events actually happen.