Craig Tracy
Craig Tracy in 2014
Born(1967-05-22)May 22, 1967
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materThe Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale
Known forBody painting
StyleTrompe-l'œil
Websitecraigtracy.com

Craig Anthony Tracy (born May 22, 1967) is an American bodypainting artist and television personality based in New Orleans, Louisiana.[1] He is widely known as the expert judge and the producer of Skin Wars, a bodypainting reality competition which aired on the Game Show Network between 2014 and 2016.[2] Tracy is the founder of the Craig Tracy Gallery, previously known as PaintedAlive Gallery, in the French Quarter of New Orleans.[3] Tracy is also the recipient of the World Award in the airbrush category at the World Bodypainting Festival in 2005.

Biography

Tracy was born in 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He started painting at the age of 15 when he received his first airbrush from his parents. Tracy attended The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he graduated in 1987.[4] After graduating, Tracy started his professional career as a freelance illustrator creating industrial and commercial imagery. He retired from illustrating in 1993 and began focusing on the art of bodypainting.[2]

In the mid-2000s, Tracy exhibited his artworks in The Nature Series, his first series of bodypainting images. The series received positive reviews from several art critics and led him to travel to Europe to work with other professional bodypainters.[5] In 2005, Tracy exhibited his bodypainting artworks at the World Bodypainting Festival, the biggest annual event in bodypainting culture, in Klagenfurt, Austria. He was named a 2005 World Bodypainting Champion in the airbrush category.[6]

In February 2006, Tracy established the PaintedAlive Gallery, the first gallery in the world dedicated to the fine art of bodypainting.[7] In 2009, the gallery was renamed to the Craig Tracy Gallery to better clarify that it houses and sells his personal works. It is located in the French Quarter of New Orleans.[3]

Tracy has also served as the judge, producer and the Bodypainting Guru of Skin Wars since it began airing in 2014.[8] In three seasons of the network reality television competition series, Tracy worked alongside RuPaul, Robin Barcus Slonina and the host Rebecca Romjin.[9] He has also judged the U.S. bodypainting competition Living Art America and helped organize the New York Bodypainting day.[10] His work has been commissioned for numerous companies including the New Orleans Saints, Fiat and Coca-Cola. Additionally, he and his work have been featured books including Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: Strikingly True, The Human Canvas: The World’s Best Bodypaintings as well as his self-authored Painted Alive: The Fine Art of Bodypainting.[11][12]

Art

Tracy's artworks relates to techniques of combining traditional paintbrushing and finger-painting with modern airbrushing. The majority of his art is the result of the combination of bodypainting and imagery with minimal digital influences.[13] His compositions are inspired by a specific body shape combined with cultural and natural influences. Many of Tracy's artworks includes manual creation of backdrop which complements the required visual.[14] An amalgamation of the bodypainting and the backdrop are photographed simultaneously in order to minimize the need of intertwining the artwork.[15] In an interview, Tracy suggested that the artists like Norman Rockwell, M.C. Escher, Boris Vallejo, Chuck Close, Robert Mapplethorpe, H.R. Giger and Gottfried Helnwein have been an inspiration to his artworks. Tracy's work represents surreal moment captured in the artwork which makes the viewers question the visual reality.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Metrowebukmetro (20 April 2011). "Tiger is in fact three naked women". metro.co.uk. Metro. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 Walker, Dave (5 August 2014). "New Orleans artist Craig Tracy brings authority to the judges panel for GSN's new 'Skin Wars'". www.nola.com. The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Jacque (2 September 2010). "Body art puts paint next to nothing". edition.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  4. ↑ La rédaction (23 May 2019). "Un tigre plus vrai que nature peint sur trois femmes nues". www.gentside.com (in French). Gentside. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "Juror's info - Craig Tracy - Bio". artscenetoday.com. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "Hall of Fame - Artist". bodypainting-festival.com. World Bodypainting Festival. 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Adamakos, Tess (1 November 2019). "15 Artists That Depict The Tattooed Community Through Incredible Large-Scale Art". inkedmag.com. Inked. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Skin Wars Talent". www.gameshownetwork.com. Game Show Network. 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Martinez, Victor R. (30 June 2016). "El Pasoan wins 'Skin Wars' art contest for family". www.elpasotimes.com. El Paso Times. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "REVIEW: Living Art America's 2016 North American Championships". www.livingbrush.com. Living Brush. 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Barendregt, Karala (16 October 2014). The Human Canvas: The World's Best Body Paintings. F+W. pp. 84–100. ISBN 978-1-4403-3712-3. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Tibballs, Geoff (13 September 2011). Ripley's believe it or not!. Strikingly true. Orlando, Fla.: Ripley Publishing. pp. 12, 13. ISBN 9781609910006. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  13. ↑ La rédaction (23 May 2019). "Il réalise de belles illusions d'optique en utilisant le body painting". www.gentside.com (in French). Gentside. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  14. ↑ Skillen, Heather (10 April 2012). "Craig Tracy's Body Landscapes Create Optical Illusion". www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. HuffPost. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  15. 1 2 Wilson, Grace (11 November 2019). "Craig Tracy's Body of Work". www.frenchquarterjournal.com. French Quarter Journal. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
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