Ink'd: A New Tattoo Exhibit!!!!

   I love tattoos and I feel they are an under appreciated art form, so when I was asked to come up with a senior project for my Arts Management degree from Purchase College I thought I should do something on tattoo art. After a lot of thinking I came up with Ink'd.  

Ink'd: A Look into Tattoo Design is an exhibit that showcases not only tattoo art but the people behind the tattoos.
I originally set out to show how tattoo art can be viewed from a formal art perspective by taking images of only the tattoo itself. However, as I began to take photographs, I realized that tattoo art, more than any other kind of art form is uniquely personal. Often times, I would see common designs like the humming bird, rose, wings, etc. Each design was not only interpreted differently by the artist but also each was given special meaning by the wearer. Tattoo art has gone back to a time when art and images belong to the masses and both the artist and the viewer helped in creating a single piece. I have come to realize that to look at a tattoo is to look at the person; they are inseparable. I hope to communicate this though images of tattoos and portraits of its wearers that I have taken over a period of time and I have been lucky enough to do a small, one night exhibit at the Neuberger Museum of Art on their First Wednesday event that is open to everyone and has a lot of great programs. Here is the info:

When: Wednesday, March 3

Where: Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College

Time: 4 - 8pm

  It is important that tattoo art is taken as a serious art form and that people realize it is not simply a fad but an art movement for this generation, through exhibitions like this. So come by to see some great tattoo art and free food!!!

Tattooed Women in Freak Shows

(Betty Broadbent; Tattooed Woman 1950s)

Today tattoos have become mainstream and it seems that everyone has tattoo including women. However, during the 1800s, it was taboo for anyone to sport tattoos openly especially women. In the West, tattoos were seen as a sign of primitivism and crime. They are even cases of tattoos being used as a form of punishment in antiquity. With more and more contact between the West and other cultures especially with Native Americans,  people begin to be both disgusted yet intrigued by tattoo art. The practice of tattooing is picked up by sailors who develop the basic designs based on sailing that become the base from Americana tattoos.
It is during this time that the freakshow act, the Tattooed Woman began to emerge soon replacing the tattooed man and made money displaying her skin art. The Tattooed Woman was usually came from a working class background and choose to become a "freak" by marking their body that would be displayed to a usually male audience in freak shows. Many of these women came up with fictional stories of how they got their tattoos usually saying they were forcefully tattooed by Native  Americans.                                                          

          Early tattoo women usually were inked with sailor designs since there wasn't many designs available and were crude but as tattooing got better so did their designs. Tattooed Women were a major act in freak and sideshows from the late 1800s till the 19995 when the last working tattooed woman, Lorett Fulkerson retired.

Today there are many female performers that have tattoos but they are more of a form of personal decoration or a way to enhance their main performance. However, tattooed women really helped in making tattoos acceptable for the mainstream.







(Nora Hildebrandt; early Tattooed woman)

Tattoo of the Week: Sideshow Ink

While I was at Coney Island I stopped by the Coney Island Museum and saw their freak show. A lot of the performers had some beautiful tattoos that decorated their skin. One of the female performers was kind enough to let me photograph her tattoos. I loved her arm piece with the mermaid and child on an anchor. It looks like all those classic paintings of the Madonna and child but with a sailor twist. It is a great example of tradtional Western tattoos of the 1800s where there were a limited selection of designs and many of the designs of the time based on sailing since many of those who got tattoos were thought to be sailors and criminals.

Her tattoo of the female ninja is pretty cool; kind of a spin on the classic pin-up.

Check out the Coney Island Museum site

Prison Ink

Its only recently that tattoos and those have them have lost their association with thugs and criminals. While its true not everyone with a tattoo is a criminal, tattoos are a huge part of prison culture. Prison ink is used mainly to show gang affiliations usually the name of a gang done in ornate letters. However, they also show what position you hold, skills and specialties. There are many designs with meaning behind that has developed into almost a code. A few are:


A teardrop, usually near the eye, means that they have either killed or a friend has been killed.


A clock with no hands or hourglass means doing hard time


The Ace of Spade with an 'A' is associated with Aco Town or the Asian Boyz gang


The number 14 is associated with the Nuestra Familia


Since there are no tattoo studios in prison, many of the tattoos are done using a homemade tattoo machine sometimes made using the inside of a pen and a motor from an electric shaver.

Tattoo of the Week: BAM! POW! Ink

I use to love comics as a kid and this tattoo from a woman who works at the Coney Island museum brought me back to that time. The artist not only got the font right but the colors were bright and vibrant and the shadow that surrounds the tattoos is a really nice touch. She also had this day of the dead skull, not the best I have seen but I love skulls.

Tattoo of the Week: Memorial Shoes

Maria, a Purchase College student, got her tattoo done in memory of her gradmother that passed away recently, her gradmother always wore her trademark oxford shoes so she thought it would be the perfect image to get tattoo'd with. The artist behind the shoes is Amanda from Daredevil tattoos who is known for her watercoloresque tattoos. I love this tattoo cause of how simple and clean it is. It is always refreshing to see a different take on the traditional take on the memorial tattoo.

Tattooed Under Fire

Coverage of the shootings at Fort Hood have flooded the media since last week. Many are still grieveing over the tragic events but a new documentary may offer an inside look to life at the soldiers that came from and are deployed to Iraq before the shootings at Fort Hood. Tattooed Under Fire is a documentary that examines soldier ink at Fort Hood and the tattoo shop they get them done, River City Parlor in Texas. I can't wait to see this movie because soldiers use tattoo art as a way to deal with all that they see and the deaths that they suffer through. They, more than any ther sub-culture, really embrace tattoo art as a medium to tell their stories and remember all thse who have fallen. The americana style of tattoo was not only embraced by soldiers but inspired by soldiers and sailors as well. It will be interesting to see how this documentary will talk about the connections between tattoos and the soldiers that wear them. You can find more info on the movie at http://tattooedunderfire.com/

Extended Trailer:

Tattoo of the Week: Michael Myers Portrait

Jessica, a Purchase student, got this tattoo a year ago when John Jagz of Peter Tat-2 in West Hempstead, New York was given out free horror tattoos. She decided to get Micheal Myers of Halloween because it is her favorite movie and grew up with the movie and it's imagery. This portrait took 3 hours to complete but it is the beginning of a whole leg piece she is working on that will depict varies scenes from the movie.

Tattoo of the Week: Tribal-Inspired Ink

Another great tattoo design here at Purchase. Katie was one of the many that showed interest in being photographed for a tattoo project I'm doing at Purchase College. It was done by Mehai from Fine Lines Tattoo in NYC back in August 2009. This was her own design that she based on tribal tattoos of tribes in New Guinea and Inuit. What drew her to tribal art was that it is the culture from which tattooing originated and it connects her to a time where there were no distractions. When I asked her why she designed her own tribal she said while she respected these cultures and their art, she could never get a traditional design because there is so much cultural meaning that it can be insulting for an outsider to copy those designs.

Below are some of her other designs she has:

Tattoo of the Week: Bravery, Hope, & Joy

Hanna is one of the many students here @ Purchase College that sport some ink. She has a bunch of cool tattoos but what I love about this one is the bright color and the originality of the design. The Bravery, Joy & Hope tattoo goes along with the buttons on her back but can definitely stand on their own. This piece is the work of Shawn von Oven of Shaman's Den and is about "commendrating being strong and remaining steadyfast in who I am in hard times," after a particularly difficult year.

The First Tattoo Experience

Today, I went with my friend to get her first tattoo at Big Joe & Sons in White Plains. She was got the mysterious letters found in the Qu'ran in Arabic (kind of interesting because they appear repeatedly in the Qu'ran but no one knows what they mean). The tattoo itself was fairly simple and came out great but the service was just okay. They were laid back but the artist seemed preoccupied. During the session my friend got a bit dizzy and he made her take a break. But then he literally forgot about her and was busy on the phone. He took him about 20 to 30 minutes to remember to finish the tattoo. Once it was done, they pretty much just gave her a sheet on after-care instructions with a recommendation on best creme but didn't really go through it with her. Even though she likes the tattoo, she doesn't believe she would go back. It really shows how getting a tattoo is not just the finished product but the experience of getting it.
Gimme your opinion, leave a comment.

Tattoo of the Week: Thai Ink

I went to Coney Island the other weekend and visited the museum there. A lot of the people who worked there had a lot of great tattoo art. Out of all the ink I saw and pictures I took, this one was one of my favorites. It was done in Thailand in the traditional method of tapping the ink under the skin.

The story behind the piece is just as interesting. He went to Thailand and told the artist that he could do anything he wanted from the shoulder to the elbow and around his pre-existing tattoo (cruxified bear). The artist said he couldn't just do anything, he had to get to know him. So they drink , smoked and talked till the artist said he knew what to do and he did this design.

It is all about the opposing forces of good and evil with in us.

Do you like? Leave a comment.

Tattoo of the Week: Tribal Scene Ink

J.M has an amazing full sleeve tattoo that has variety of different Native American themes. There is a battle scene that really makes it look dynamic and full of movement. So I sat and asked him about it:

Who was the artist that did your tattoos?Chuk hognell, marc toves, adam,corey kadevitz, 2 other guys in guam.

What shop do they work in? Butterfly tattoo

When did you get it?
Between 2002-present

What is the scene about?
I just like the art and enjoy having it on my body.
The pain from getting the tattoo is also a stress reliever.

Why did you get? I like the look of full sleeves, easy conversation piece, I love the art that its all about, there’s a story line behind it.

What is the Native American motif about? What is the piece depicting?
I’m ¼ native American and I have a Mohawk hunter fighting a wendigo use google for the story, The medicine man is having the vision, and the women onn the todem pole is just a piece of art that I liked. The rest going up my arm is different pieces containing animals from the places that I’ve lived.

What do you think about this piece? Leave a comment.

Inked Magazine

I was in Barnes & Nobles the other day with my roommate looking through the magazine rack when she pointed out a mag tittled Inked in classic Gothic font and Diablo Cody on the cover. I am a total mag monster, I read everything from ELLE and VOGUE to TATTOO and Juxtaposition so I bought it. And it was one of the best tattoo magazines I have ever bought.

A lot of the tattoo magazines I have read are usually packed with images of tattoos all themed by body placement or artists with the occasional articles about feature artists and recent conventions. They are usually more of a book of designs than an actual magazine. But Inked has a good mix of solid articles and interviews all about music, travel, fashion and people all connected through tattoos.

The September issue has Diablo Cody (Juno, United States of Tara) on the cover sporting a pin-up tattoo on her arm and the 'yes' scripted on the inner wrist and the interview was just as nice. It covered everything from her current projects to her ink as well as how she view her critics and the success of Juno . Till this interview, I never know who was behind Juno or that she was doing a horror movie starring Megan Fox (who has one of the best Marilyn Monroe tattoos I have ever seen) as a cannibal cheerleader, talk about maneater.

My favorite article was "The Art of War" which was all about a soldier who is serving in Iraq who, randomly began to tattoo his fellow soldiers on base. Usually can't get into articles about the Iraq war because I am totally against it and most take and outsider view, this article is through his voice. He lays out why he went into the army and his experience in the war. The article does a great job of painting the picture and keeping true to this soldier voice, they don't edit the curses out and it seems as if your there listening to his story. I thought it was cool that he began to tattooing because another soldier was bored with no missions to do and asked he to ink him. It really shows how tattoos are a form of escapism for many of those who are fighting the war as will as a medium to honor a friend.

All in all, Inked is a really good magazine for anyone who may not have a full bodysuit but is really interested in tattoos as well as art, fashion and music. It does a great job in connecting all these different subjects with tattoo art. Oh, p.s, this mag has some hot eye candy for both boys and girls.

POP TATTOOS

Lately, there has been a big interest in tattoos in pop culture. This interest has manifest in a lot of different ways especially in fashion and t.v. The first show I ever saw about tattoos was in high school when FUSE use to air a show called "Tattoo Stories." It was all about two of my favorite things: rock and tattoos. It had all these great segments with people who had tattoos talking about all their tattoos and why they got them and interviews with tattoo artists. It really showed how tattoos are a personal kind of art and even if two people have similar tats, it could mean different things to each of them. With in the last couple of years, there has been even more shows about tattoos the most popular are TLC's "Miami Ink" and "L.A Ink." Both are cool in the sense that they show what goes on in a tattoo shop and the people behind the body art. Personally, I love the art done by the head of Miami Ink,"Ami and L.A Ink'sKat Von D. Now, A&E is promoting a new tattoo reality show "Tattoo
Highway," I really curious to see what that will be about.

I have also noticed that a lot of clothing are showing traditional tattoo designs. While Ed Hardy and Sailor Jerry clothing have been around for a long time, there are based on these iconic tattoo artists' designs. However, there has been a lot of high-end designer house coming out with new collections that feature leather bags and dress littered with tattoo designs (some look pretty shitty). I was surprised when reading this month's ELLE and saw that they had a Trends page showing different pieces of clothing that was influenced by tattoo art. Designers and designer houses like Coach, Karl Lagerfeld, Rampage and Gucci are just a few who have jumped on the bandwagon.

While it is great that tattoo art is getting more exposure and society now While the exposure in pop culture has caused people to see that people from all walks of life, from bikers and ex-cons to business men and house wives, can have tattoos and that having a tat doesn't make you a menace to society. Yet I have a kind of love-hate feeling about tattoos in the media. On the one hand, pop culture has improve the view of tattoos as a form of self expression and eased the stigma people have on tats and the people that have them. There has been a few formal exhibitions on tattoo art as well. However, I can't help but think that most see it as only a fad that will pass. Even though tattoos are really popular, there are many who still don't see as a form of art like painting despite handful of exhibitions. While there is definitely some crappy tats out there that were done on drunken nights, there are others that are done by real artist that have spent time and money in art college and in all the time in training with establish tattoo artists.

What do you think about tattoos in pop culture? Drop a comment

Tats for Ur Eyes

I was watching National Geographic's Taboo one day and found out about this new technique in tattooing where an artist can tattoo the whites of your eyes any color you want. Currently their are only about four people who have successfully gone through this procedure and even fewer tattoo artists that can actually do it. While it sound kind of cool and little freaky (hell, it looks pretty freaky too), it is extremely dangerous. There are bunch of different risk involved the most being permanent damage to the cornea and lost of sight, though this hasn't stop people from trying it out. While eyeball tattooing has been done since the 19th century, maybe even earlier than that, to correct defects in a blind eye. Usually done only for medical reasons like scaring resulting from eye trauma by doctors.

However, pretty recently, people have begun to do it as part of body modification. It while their are virtually no doctor that is willing to do it, so a few tattoo artists have begun to study and experiment with different techniques on how to apply permanent color to the whites of the eyes. The artist that did the show said that he experimented on pigs' eyes since their eyes are pretty similar to our own to figure out how exactly to apply ink without it running (just thinking about it makes my eyes water).

A regular needle with ink at the end doesn't cut it for this tat, the artist has to literally inject the ink with a syringe needle into the whites of the eye at different points to get it to spread throughout the eye. And one slight twitch from the one getting the tattoo can cause a permanent loss of sight.

The first inked eye was done last year by three people Paul Unstoppable from Canada (oh Canada), Josh and Shannon Larratt to see if it could actually be done. They inked their entire eyes blue. They really stress that they and the artist had research the procedure extensively before attempting it. It took about 40 injections to get the entire eye blue. First up was Paul who was done with a traditional hand poking technique which wasn't all that effective so on Josh, the switched to a syringe and thinned out the ink with a antibiotic eyewash which was a lot more successful. While Josh and Paul's tats were pretty successful, Shannon has wrote that he did suffer from a minor damage that healed well.

Since these three, there has only been one other attempt at eyeball tattooing by Quille De Sade(at left: taken from national geographic site) is a chef from England who appeared on Taboo. He did his completely black which made him look like Morpheus from Sandman.

Just thinking about this makes my eyes itch.