Byline: Claire Joseph
Sep. 14--The message: use ink responsibly. The medium: paint.
The canvas: human bodies. Body artists plied their skills Wednesday, painting strictly Minnesota matter on models' backs in downtown Minneapolis.
Bob Dylan, Prince and Kevin Garnett were among the main attractions for 'Human Art Gallery: Paintings on a Human Canvas,' sponsored by OfficeMax. The event was aimed at OfficeMax's environmentally friendly ink-cartridge-refill program. While OfficeMax employees chatted with people on their lunch breaks about the consequences of irresponsible ink use, models displayed the beauty that can be found in ink. Royal Palmer, a Burnsville model and actor, showed off an image of the Walker Art Center's 'Spoonbridge and Cherry' sculpture while lying on the ground of a First Avenue parking lot. 'This is a difficult pose to be in,' Palmer said, 'but when I was getting painted, it was really fun. It's neat to see the finished product.' Palmer's back displays the spoon and cherry image with a woman's mouth, wide open, as if she were about to eat the cherry. It 'portrays the public eating up the art scene,' said airbrush and body-paint artist Dawn Svanoe of Madison, Wis. Svanoe spent the past week designing and creating stencils for the piece. Wednesday morning, she painted it, along with 'Purple Rain' and 'Border Battle' at the event. 'Purple Rain' paid homage to music icon Prince, and 'Border Battle' showed the rivalry between the Vikings and Green Bay Packers with the words '40 Years of Cold War.' The exhibit featured 10 human-art designs, including images of famous Minnesota musicians, icons, athletes and sports teams, including the Twins. OfficeMax is offering discounts for customers who bring in old ink cartridges they would like recycled, said company spokesman Bill Bonner. 'It is estimated that people throw away 300 million ink cartridges a year,' said Heather Schwartz, one of the event coordinators, 'and they are not biodegradable.' Claire Joseph can be reached at cjoseph@pioneerpress.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business
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