We got asked back to Las Vegas by Broadway Bares to paint live for their event at Planet Hollywood.

Las Vegas Part 2: ReLoaded is official.  Fellow artists Borbay and Paul Zepeda are joining in on the adventure.  From April 15-23 we will be painting in the Las Vegas area starting off with the impetus for our trip a live painting at Planet Hollywood for the Broadway Bares charity.  After that we will be painting at different locations.  I have flexibility for two custom paintings.  Commission a painting and secure a piece of history.

Want your own custom painting from Las Vegas?  A favorite casino, The Welcome to Las Vegas Sign, Joshua Tree, Hoover Dam?… you decide what I paint and you own it forever.  Contact me now to set this up, info@arilankin.com or 610-420-7752.

Or perhaps you would like a Borbay or a Zepeda? Contact them directly jason@borbay.com and paul_theartist@yahoo.com

Read about last years trip and see the paintings  -

Borbay and Lankin do Vegas 2011.

Manhattan to Vegas: A Great Painting Adventure

It wasn’t a radical notion by any stretch of the imagination. Nine days in Vegas, painting live on the strip, an idea hatched by Borbay.  Flying to a destination to paint raises the stakes.  Time is limited, the conditions are unknown, and the unexpected will occur.  This is a chronological portrait of Manhattan based artists Borbay and Ari Lankin’s whirlwind trip to paint the the American Dream of Las Vegas.

THE WELCOME SIGN, TO SKI WITH ELVIS?

After two mind-numbing hours of infomercials featuring the muscles formerly known as Carrot Top, we began our mission to paint Vegas with the one definite painting, the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign. We encountered menacing painting conditions of dry heat, blazing sun, and multidirectional dust filled wind.

Painting on location is a beautiful experience.  It’s a race against time as the light is continually changing. Being anchored in one spot all day, often days, allows you to learn things about a foreign location that you don’t even know about the street you live on.  The location becomes a living entity.

It took little time for us to enmesh ourselves with the tourists and local people that frequent this must-see destination. Colorful 4/20 weddings, a preggers chick with “Vegas Baby” painted to match the sign on her belly, a consortium of Elvis’ and conversations with a dope photographer by the name of Gilbert fueled us as we painted. A Twitter friend (seriously) — Jerry Shawback, showed up day one to ask if he could join us… “of course brotha.”

We liked Jerry’s company so we invited him to paint with us every day for the rest of the trip.  We were an Artist Wolfpack, minus Galifianakis, but very much on par with the booze and cigarettes.

After finishing our first paintings we took our badly sunburnt calves and clay-dusted sneakers West into the neon sunset. A look that stuck with us for the entire trip. Being an artist is all about wearing clothing utility enough to paint in any condition, yet sophisto-seedy enough to access most Vegas venues. Borbay’s iconic dark shades and a faux leather blazer that screams, “look here, ignore the filthy shoes, skip the label, let us through”. Be ambiguously famous, authentic, and perhaps a bit dangerous. Fake that trust fund and rock with the DJ.  This particular evening was boosted by a one-eyed-pirate trip to Absinthe at Caesar’s. Penny’s sock-puppet routine. See it. Trust. “6’O’Clock bitch!” Pre-game with Dom Pong for $400.

THREE NEW STREET CREATURES ON FREMONT

Canvas number two belonged to what is alternatively referred to as “The Real Vegas” aka “Stabsville USA” — Fremont Street, the uncovered portion. We decided on the storied El Cortez Hotel, “Where Locals Come to Play, and the slots still have coins”. Locals indeed.

After a few hours a security guard was surprised that we were still out there.  We asked “Why, because of the heat?” he replied, “No, because the locals haven’t taken your stuff.” We made good with the mostly friendly locals, and had many repeat visitors, and the (un)usual school of critics. Comments ranged from: “Dope, I gotta blunt up with you,” “ohhh, beautiful,” “I don’t get it,”  “you suck bro,”  Of course, “how much? Where can I wire the money…” is preferred. Adaptation and a flexible personality are crucial to survive painting on the street.

It feels normal after two days of complete immersion on the streets to hear a woman shout: “Yo motha fucka, I just got outta Vegas Psych, and you can suck my dick bitch, oh look, artists!”

On Easter Sunday an elderly gentleman who was immaculately dressed and had a swaggerly disposition walked by and said, “those paintings are good, and I should know, I’m a millionaire.”  So that’s the secret to being a good art critic.

“Was that Jackie Gaughan?” Borbay wondered out loud. It was a good question.

The El Cortez Hotel is permanently etched in our brain.

BROADWAY BARES, ONE HOLLY MADISON

Back at the sign on day one, Ari met Sheila Joy “a very hot, very talented, very cool” blonde Cris Angel dancer.  After getting her “I <3 NV” painted tattoo from Ari, Sheila suggested we attend a charity event called Broadway Bares at Planet Hollywood she was choreographing and performing in.  Even better, we offered our painting services.  The next day we received a call from organizer and performer Paula Caselton of Broadway Bares who saw our work online and wanted us to join the show.

24 hours later it started with a viewing of Peepshow at the CHI Showroom. A lot of classy T&A and great dancing whipped up a new level of Vegas inspiration.   After midnight in the same theater we sipped a double and started slinging paint.  We hovered in the dual realm of painter and live performer for the duration of the show.  Holly Madison introduced us halfway through the 75 minutes to cheers from the anticipating crowd.  The paintings were auctioned off minutes after the show for Broadway Bares/Equity Fights AIDS.

THE SAHARA IS CLOSING?

Capture a slice of classic Vegas before it’s gone we thought. Once home to TV legend Dean Martin, now their claim to fame is a “six pound burrito (As Seen on TV), the size of a child, literally.”  Tempting, but we passed.

A cool but unwavering bike security guard gave us the boot from the edge of the casino property three hours into our paintings. Things went from bad to worse after we crossed the street to join the hollering lunatic screaming “I want reparations and hot dogs you dirty pigs!” We had to change compositions and about an hour in, our easels blew over — violently.  Being a street artist is never simple.

THE LUXOR, SEEN FROM SPACE, NO WIRELESS

The Luxor can shoot a light beam into space, yet they have no Wi-Fi. Regardless, for our last painting we set-up on Vegas BLVD, with a cooler of Tecate, and set our sites on a late 1990’s addition to the Vegas skyline straight out of popcorn flick: The Mummy.  Remember Brendan Frasier?

Thank you Las Vegas we couldn’t have done it without you.

Borbay (www.borbay.com) and Ari Lankin (www.arilankin.com) are professional artists from Manhattan. They travel the world, painting on location, and share their adventures along the way through Twitter (@Borbay) and (@AriLankin).  Check #vegaslive for the feed from when they were on the trip.

Stay tuned for more information and follow along on my Facebook Artist Page and Twitter.