Airbrush Hero
By John Hayden
Avi Ram stands out by blending in. If you’ve driven along Wilton Drive at any point in the past few years, you’ve seen his work. The prolific muralist has several pieces displayed on walls across Wilton Manors and South Florida.
While his murals are gorgeous, his hidden masterpieces have fans squinting their eyes and dropping their jaws. Known as the Airbrush Hero, he’s been body painting people for years. Ram is taking it to the next level and highlighting ten of Broward County’s most beautiful locations. He teamed up with Visit Lauderdale, Broward’s pro-LGBTQIA+ tourism arm, for his Hidden in Plain Sight series. “I really enjoy working with Visit Lauderdale. When I came with the project, they really fell in love with this idea,” Ram told OutClique.
Ram takes a model and uses body paint to blend them into the background. Models can be in living rooms, garages, anywhere. For his series with Visit Lauderdale and their Everyone Under the Sun marketing campaign, they are collaborating to find ten sites that epitomize Broward County and its welcoming atmosphere.
The key to a project like body painting is establishing trust between the artist and model. “Being almost half naked, being camouflaged body painting with people watching, it can make you feel uncomfortable. I took her out of her comfort zone.”
“I knew I would be out in a beautiful garden, free to the air and very vulnerable. With every paint brush, he made me feel more and more safe,” she said. “As he painted me into this beautiful backdrop that is Bonnet House, I felt powerful.”
Of course, not everyone gets it, as Ram found out during his shoot at Flamingo Gardens. The model was painted as a flamingo and something you would never expect happened. “One of the flamingos did not like it, and started attacking the model.” The video went viral.
Ram is documenting the experience for his series, Hidden In Plain Sight, which he posts on his Facebook page. He’s a veteran of reality TV, having been a contestant or a judge on several shows. Over time he’s learned to shoot and edit as well as lighting and audio.
Now the projects are getting so big, he’s hired a crew. “When you start big projects like that, you realize you can get overwhelmed. You’re not focusing on the art. So now it’s time to hire people to do the side jobs and let me focus on the creative part.”
Ram is also an accomplished muralist, especially around his adopted hometown. “I definitely put a lot of color in Wilton Manors. I like making my city beautiful.”
He recently did the side of Out of the Closet on Wilton Drive. Other murals are at Hunters Nightclub, Rosie’s, Wilton’s Manor Doggie Daycare Resort and Spa, and more.
By doing murals and body painting for so long, one would think he has a favorite by now. Ram insists that’s not the case. “My passion is art in general. There are things that I like with wall murals, and there are things that I like with body painting.”
What he is certain about is his love of community, which will see much more of his work very soon. “Every time I do something for the community, I definitely feel the support. It makes me feel good. It feels like home. I’m originally from Israel, but I feel like Wilton Manors and Oakland Park are my home.”
