About

DEN|ART NY is the first retail body painting studio in NY. We are the first company that make the body painting experience available for the general public, where anyone can just come in and experience body painting then photographed. Before we came into the picture, this kind of experience was only available for professional models as part of elaborate productions.

DEN|ART NY started when Danny Setiawan experimented with body painting as a medium to increase the relevancy of his art so he can make more impact through it.

In 2009, Ekaterina Dorozhkina joined DEN|ART NY and turned it from a merely artistic endeavor into a business

Unlike the popular uses of body painting in popular culture where it is closely associated with eroticism, we use body painting to make art more relevant and engaging.

We do this by breaking boundaries:

1. Boundary between the art and audience
   By placing the art in the same physical space as the audience, we also make them an active participant of the art experience as opposed to the passive observant role.
2. Boundary between the world where the art lives and the world where we live in physically
   No one can ignore a piece of art in front of them if it is alive.
3. Boundary between the work of art and the artist
   The art creation does not stop with the last brush stroke because the painted model also plays an active role in bringing the art to life.

In addition to our passion in creating beautiful and engaging art, DEN|ART NY aspires to inspire other artists to experiment with new ways to monetize their talents so they can create more.

The DEN|ART NY Team

Danny Setiawan

Co-founder, Master painter

Danny Setiawan is an Indonesian born visual artist who combines traditional and digital media in his art.

Danny immigrated to the United States in 1997, and earned his Masters of Fine Arts degree in multimedia from Parsons School of Design in New York in 2003.

In many of his recent works, Danny uses human body as his canvas. Some of his creations, immediately recognizable replications of great paintings of the past, are tributes to his predecessors.

Danny’s work has been featured on TV shows and magazines in the US, Europe and Asia.

Danny currently lives and works in New York City with his wife and dog.

 

Ekaterina (Katya) Dorozhkina

Co-founder, Marketing, Business development

With years of experience in marketing, logistics and project management, Katya infuses a wealth of knowledge and experience into this artistic endeavor.

Being a natural economist who always sees the big picture and understand how all the pieces work together, Katya ensures DENART NY’s growth as a business.

In addition to being business savvy, Katya exercises her creative muscles in make up artistry and hair styling.

Katya was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. She received her Master’s degree in Economics from one of the top Russian universities. She currently lives in New York City.

 

Gulya Shigabutdinova

Body painter, Instructor

A self-taught artist from Russia, Gulya enjoys working in a variety of styles and mediums. She finds both education and inspiration in everything from the great masters of art to comic strips.

Gulya brings a lot of spunk and flavor to the DEN|ART NY studio with her quirky humor and outgoing personality. She helps Danny with the work load by painting every weekend at the studio.

A professional photographer in training, she can calm down nervous clients to bring out their true personality when shooting their portraits. You can view her work and illustrations on her website at: http://www.thatgirloverthere.com. She currently lives and works in New York City.

 

Jobana Soto

Photo Retoucher, Admin

Jobana is the administrative support for DEN|ART NY and manages the appointment book for the team. She assists Gulya with photo shoot sessions and does professional retouching of client’s photographs.

Recently, Jobana graduated from Pratt Institute and began her life as a digital designer. She lives happily with her pet plant named Fera Hank.