Like graffiti, tattoo art has had an effect on so-called "conventional" art. Tattoo artists are just that—artists. The difference is, they can't just scrap the canvas and go on to the next piece. Their canvas is the skin.
While the Bogda Art Gallery isn't exactly presenting traditional art, their recent show of tattoo art is an example of how far the idea of tattooing as an art has come in the last century.
The status of tattooing as an art has been elevated in recent years, making it more acceptable for people in all walks of life. Tats done on the neck and face still aren't accepted in corporate circles, but subtle tattoos everywhere else have made their way into the mainstream. In the twenty-five to twenty-nine year old age bracket, a whopping 36% of Americans have a tattoo. That's a higher percentage than the amount of Americans who smoke.
Tattooing has a long and rich history. In times past, it has been used to denote status in tribal cultures, sometimes telling you a person's trade, position and age. Tattoos have also been used to mark criminals and to communicate membership in secret societies, gangs and other groups.
These days folks get inked for some of the same reasons—to tell the world that they belong to a particular subculture, yes, but also that they love someone or that they love a particular style of art or just an idea. Many times a tattoo is symbolic of a life change. Whatever the reason, it's something that'll be with the person, sometimes for the rest of their lives (until they cover it up or have it lasered off).
Lots of tattoo artists have talent as artists, particularly those who work to design and develop tattoos. Custom tattoos have become the norm, and hardly anyone gets a design straight off the wall of tattoo examples.
Some of the art at the Bogda looks like it came straight from those walls a.k.a. "the handbook of typical tats." Skulls, hearts, swords and sparrows abound. If you've spent any amount of time in tattoo parlor, or if you tend to look at everyone's tats, you're going to get nostalgic and you might even want one: for your walls or for your skin.
Chris Ayalin's work, particularly the green snarling wolf surrounded by drops of blood and flies, is so over-the-top that you just have to love it, if only for the ludicrousness of it. I looked at that green wolf and realized that it was very possible that someone out there was permanently marked with something that looked like it belonged as the cover of a DIY death metal album.
Some of the canvas work is a surprise, like the Oriental-style gold leaf treatments from Stevie Floyd of Pegasus Gallery in St. Augustine. I also liked the goofy-looking giraffe from Brian Register of Peacocks Tattoo.
The most impressive pieces of artwork weren't on the walls, though, they were on the people hanging out at the opening. Flesh canvas Rob Shaffer modeled his arm, done in the style of a Hokusai Japanese wood block print. The artist was Stevie Floyd, who loves designing and tattooing Japanese artwork and Art Nouveau tats.
Stevie's prints were selling quickly at the opening. Most of the artwork displayed is fairly affordable, from $20 and up.
The Bogda will be showing work from various local tattoo artists through the 28th.
