Respect the art
Evolution is real. There are examples of it in all facets. By connotation most of us think of nature, but there is evolution in business- things get streamlined, focus gets shifted. There was an evolution in baseball- what else would you call Moneyball? There is an evolution in art. It’s gone from cave drawings to the Renaissance and today the canvas of choice is flesh. The biggest local art convention was held last weekend at Resorts World Casino, Queens for United Ink’s No Limit Tattoo Festival.
Brimstone of Hound Comics
Pablo Picasso once said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” Nowhere is this truer than at the No Limit Tattoo Festival. One of the beautiful things about the festival is you are only bound by your imagination. Everything is possible! Art is defined as the process of creating visual artifacts by expressing the author’s imagination and technical skills. Its intended purpose is to be appreciated, for their beauty or emotional power. It only makes sense to do this on a larger scale. United Arts is the venue to accomplish this.
Just another day.
During the high Renaissance period Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the Sistine Chapel. That ceiling has been appreciated by millions of people for centuries. If perfection were a real, tangible thing- this would be it. If the adage of your body is a temple is true, we are our own Sistine Chapel. We are allowed to decorate it or not decorate anyway we want. That is the beauty of our culture. We can commission our own masterpieces. That is an amazing concept!
Po Po of Tattoo Lou’s
Tattoos should be personal (sorry tribal guys). They should be representative of your beliefs. If you want to use the gun- perfect. If the Japanese bamboo way is your thing- you can do it here. Samoan Pe’a- well I didn’t see it here but I’m sure it was available. These are all works of art that is beautifully yours!
What a headache- literally.
I am impressed with Zhang Po currently working with Tattoo Lou’s. His portraits are simply legendary. Brian Geckle out of Pennsylvania does some great animalistic pieces. Bobby Moss of Timeless Art Tattoos in Arizona is one of my favorite technical artists. The fact he has the perfect canvas as his wife, Heather, is a bonus.
Like a Moss- Heather Moss
But Tattoo Conventions aren’t all about tattoos. It’s about a nonconformist lifestyle. No one exemplifies this better than Michael Zinn. Zinn is owner of Shutterhut Creative Studio in Moriches and the creative mind behind Women of Armageddon. WoA is a graphic novel that depicts the last survivors of an apocalypse. Just a great concept! Michael had pin-up model Frankey Redd with him one day- Melissa Ann the other. I can’t wait to work with either of them!
Michael Zinn and Frankey Redd
That’s gotta hurt- Brianna Belladonna
Skindicate Suspensions provided some of the entertainment this weekend. Suspension artist Brianna Belladonna attached hooks to her back piercing, laced up her ropes tight and swung from 20 feet in the air above the anxious crowd. If this wasn’t squeamish enough for you, Belladonna pulled out a 4-foot sword kissed it then proceeded to swallow it as she kept swinging from the rafters! Business a usual I guess.
Look Ma! No Hands!
That’s a mouthful!
Tattoos may be more meaningful than fine artists of the past. Picasso, Michelangelo, Davinci and Dali may hang from the walls in the Louvre forever, if properly cared for, but the work of Po- po, Moss and Geckle is finite. It dies with the carrier. If the tattoo is placed carefully you may never be able to see it, appreciate it. Besides, staring at a tattoo indefinitely critiquing it like a snob is harder when it is attached to a person!
Pulling at the strings
Start figuring out your next piece- United Ink Flight 816 is coming up soon at the Cradle of Aviation.
