Topless Dancers Shimmy at Sotheby's

The name of the New York Academy of Art's Take Home a Nude benefit auction—filled with studies of the human form—is rife with innuendo. But the event itself shed the double entendre in favor of an all-out nudie show, with eight topless dancers wearing only G-strings and Day Glo-colored body paint performing on an elaborate stage set up at Sotheby's. Sponsored by makeup company M.A.C., the tableau included large discs spinning behind the dancers and a DJ booth where Little Louie Vega spun upbeat, loud tunes for the assembled group of artsy hipsters and well-preserved uptown art patrons.
Designed by M.A.C.'s Phillip Ing, the installation (called Naked Spin) has traveled to other events, with different DJs and models, including a stop in Japan. The performance piece made the benefit flashier than last year's auction, but it had less nudity: In 2001, the models wore only masks.

--Chad Kaydo


Read our coverage of last year's Take Home a Nude auction...