Tattooing means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Tattoos have been worn by warriors and heroes, bikers, criminals, sailors, and street punks. Tattooing has been thought to protect the wearer from evil and it has been used to tell stories about the wearer, denote rank, to remember a loved one, or simply as a form of adornment. But in the past few years, tattooing has grown in popularity. With more and more young people getting tattooed, it has come into the mainstream and is no longer associated solely with the counterculture.
For me, tattooing was always a fascination. I was interested in how tattooing evolved in different cultures, I was interested in the types of people that would choose to cover themselves in tattoos, and I was drawn to the complexity and boldness of the artwork. I had always wanted to get tattooed, but it wasnt until I saw the tattoos on my friend Boris that I thought, ‘I could do this too,’ and I was super-afraid to get a bad tattoo, so I looked at as many artists as I could and studied the history of the art form intensely for about a year or so before even deciding on my first artist. I was drawn to the personalities of the different artists. Their styles and how they were able to travel and see the world. Their lifestyles and inspirations pulled from the same pile as my own. I was inspired to travel to see these artists, I was excited to reconnect with old friends as well as meet new ones on these journeys and I was humbled to receive adornment from a couple of artists whom I consider to be modern masters of their craft. And for me, thats what the art of tattooing is really all about. Its about traveling the world, its about connecting with people, and its about beautiful and timeless artwork.
I could keep going but the point is that there is a lot more to tattooing than what crappy television shows make it out to be, and Marcus Kuhn is out to show whats its really about. His new project, The Gypsy Gentleman is a real life tattoo travel documentary about real people connecting and real artists exploring timeless forms of adornment. The first episode of this video magazine features artists Thomas Hooper and Virginia Elwood in Brooklyn, and it is just so well produced and considered that I had to share it with you here. I feel that this project very accurately captures the spirit of the art form and the lifestyle, and for that it is already a huge success. But the project is only in its beginning phase and Im looking forward to seeing where Marcus goes next!
You can read more about the project and support the integrity of the tattoo industry here.
http://gypsygentleman.com/
And you can read a great interview with Marcus about the project here.
http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com
