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I met Gunnar at the South Florida show less than a month ago, but remembered seeing his work years before in magazines. His work is impressively innovative and unique; in short, I was greatly impressed with the creepy new work. The guy is a non-stop riot, we hit it off
quickly when he agreed to help us pull off a joke on his booth-mate, Jime’ Litwalk. That evening, after a few drinks, Gunnar kept us entertained ‘till dawn by hanging from trees,
falling repeatedly from rails, trying to Spider-man it up the wall to the 2nd floor (he didn’t make it by the way and still owes me 20 bucks), and, of course, with almost non-stop
conversation. Normally, I’d spend hours transcribing a taped interview for this column, but in Gunnar’s case, (since he types exactly as he talks... minus the Connecticut accent
which you’ll have to add all by yourself), I’m going to let him roll with the introductions
himself:
NAME: Gunnar (this is my legal first name, not a nickname, I am named after my father who was named after some guy my grandfather served in Korea with.)
AGE: 28
LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio (originally from Connecticut)
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 Tattoos by Gunnar. |
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 Paintings by Gunnar. |
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FAVORITE SUBJECT MATTER: maniacal kids, classic horror film themes, EC Comic’s style horror, traditional themes rendered with my style, religious themes ... actually anything
with kids playing that can be twisted upon; after having two kids, its amazing how child-influenced your life becomes.
I used to draw and paint a lot of vaginas and misogynistic themes, but now that I have 2 daughters I kinda hide that side of me, so I put up the porn mags (some people have
skeletons in their closets, I have dirty magazines). It still comes out, but now it has a lighter side, not so evil (although I am a big fan of the girl-breaking-guy’s-heart themes in my art, I kinda feel like I am the tattoo equivalent of emo.) You have all these frustrations in relationships and some guys sing about them, I draw and paint them.
*Note: (At this time I am happily married)
MEDIUMS: Tattooing, colored pencil, watercolor and now acrylic. I used to dabble in
acrylic, but I didn't know what the hell I was doing... After working with Hoffa and Tom
Sinnamond (now at No Hope No Fear), I started picking up pointers. I am such a fucking
novice, it drives me crazy. I'll work on a painting and then hate it half way through... the garbage man has seen his fare share of shitty paintings hit the can.
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HISTORY: I got my first tattoo when I was 18. But it wasn't ‘till I was like 21 when I got my second. The 3rd tattoo I got was this clock with flames on my arm, when I went
in to get it, the artist Jerry Issel (now at Stinky Monkey, in MA) and I discussed me taking on an apprenticeship. At that time, it was when the big up-rise in people getting tattooed hit. Tattoo artists were taking on apprentices all over the place to keep up with the demand and make more money (a decision I am sure they all regret now)!
I was in college at the time and was kinda interested because I still didn't
have any direction in life. My apprenticeship was a flop; the owner and I didn't get along
so I thought it best if I moved on. At this point, I almost quit tattooing before I had even started. I had not learned anything and was at that place for a year, going to school full
time, working 20-30 hours a week and than being at the studio 20-30 hours a week. I got all stressed out and was like "fuck tattooing" (the guy who had apprenticed me told
me I sucked and had no future as a tattoo artist and I believed him)...
Then one day I stopped in this tattoo shop and met these three guys who were closer to my age. They were doing tattoos that I was into, not black and gray fine-line stuff. I
showed them my work and within a week I was apprenticing there. It wasn't the best
apprenticeship, but I became really interested in tattooing again (not turned off by it like
before). I got along well with these guys and I started busting my ass to become a good
artist and tattooer. Before long I was the only guy left (everyone else quit or was fired). I was basically teaching myself. At this point I started hanging out with Eric Merrill, he was tattooing me and teaching me and we would hang out and draw till the fucking sun came
up. This is probably when I started learning the most. I got my first interview after tattooing a little over a year and my second not much later and the stuff sucked!
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I wanted to go somewhere that I could be influenced all the time so I went to Atlantis Body Art in Milford, CT; I worked there for a while with Chris Harrison and then had a chance to work at Darkside with Eric. Soon after that, Eric and I went to do a guest spot out in Ohio
at Stained Skin, we had a great time and Stained Skin was different than any shop I had been in. One night we went out to a bar and I hit on this chick and I was really into her ... a
month later we were living together (so basically I just picked up my life and moved to Ohio to be with this girl, who I am now married to and have two beautiful daughters with).
Gods and Monsters was opened in May of this year with Thomas Sinnamond, Hoffa and myself ...Thomas left soon after, having been offered a job at No Hope No Fear in Chicago. So now it is just Hoffa and me. When we started thinking about what we wanted in a tattoo studio we all had some common factors: private booths, relaxing (no more loud music), a gallery to showcase our art, no flash on the walls, private studios besides our tattoo booths to paint and draw in, an aseptic environment, a nice neighborhood where you don't have to worry about walking in after dark. That is exactly what we got, it is in this nice little neighborhood that has antique stores and art galleries. The building used to be a cancer research lab so it was already set up with private rooms. We have a 15x25 foot art gallery that people can walk through. There are two private tattoo booths and two art studios. We have the hard wood doors that were apparently imported from a church in Spain.The place is exactly what we wanted. It’s great because Hoffa and I just split the bills & there is no boss. We come and go as we please, which is nice, and we get along famously. It is perfect. For the first time, in a long while, I look forward to going
to work and I don't mind staying late.
The new Gods and Monsters website is up and running and I highly recommend you check it out www.godsandmonstersart.com; its creepy, man. Hoffa’s work is fantastic as well and the paintings freakin’ rock! As a side note, they have an incredible Halloween art show coming up on Saturday, November 2nd from noon till 10 p.m. at the shop showcasing over 20 artists from around the country: Gunnar, Hoffa, Dan Barnett, Jime’ Litwalk, Adam Hathorn, Bob Tyrell, and many more. Updates will be available on the site and we’ll be covering the show when it happens.
Gunnar will be coming out to 3rd Eye Tattoo in Atlanta for a guest spot September 18-21, 2002 so call me up for appointment info (678-423-0503).
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