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TATTOOED PORTRAITS
NEW PAINTINGS BY SHAWN BARBER
9mm Books
by Geoffrey Stephenson
From the May 2006 issue of Prick Magazine.
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 Book Cover. |
 Shawn Barber in his studio. |
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Tattooed Portraits is a fine art book showcasing a select group of
paintings in Shawn Barber's portraiture series on well known
tattoo artists and painters including Grime, Paul Booth, Marcus
Pacheco, Mike Davis, Mike Giant, and many more. The recently released
book is essentially a catalog from Shawn's art exhibit at the Shooting
Gallery in San Francisco in March. The paintings range from traditional
representational portraits to colorful, expressionistic abstractions.
Aside from his paintings, Shawn has also recently started a tattoo apprenticeship with
Mike Davis at Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco, Calif. I recently had an opportunity to ask
Shawn a few quick questions.
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 Henry Lewis portrait. |
 Grime portrait. |
 Mike Giant portrait. |
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What made you want to do your series of paintings?
The series of paintings came about through my interest in the human
figure, tattoos and exploring the possibilities of applying pigment to surface.
Portraiture specifically intrigues me. It's a challenge to paint [contemporary
artists] in a way that isn't cliché, but respectful and considerate
of each person's art and their unique personalities.
What was it like to work with all the different artists?
Throughout the past year, I had approached each one of the artists
knowing that they were tattooed and admiring their art. Everyone that
I approached to photograph for painting was totally down. Some artists
were reserved at first, others were really excited about it from the
beginning. With a few, we took some time writing back and forth
through e-mails or talking on the phone, and then traveling to see them,
spending time to get to know them a bit. With many of the artists, the
meeting was very spontaneous, a few minutes either at my studio, at
their art openings, at their tattoo shops, or friends' houses. We talked about direction and possible
content and then I took more photos than I thought I would need.
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 Paul Booth portrait. |
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How was the response from your recent showing at the Shooting Gallery, and do
you have any plans for future showings?
The response has been awesome. I have already photographed over a dozen new people and am in
contact with so many more. The show at the Shooting Gallery was more than I could have ever
expected - 20 out of 30 pieces from the show have already sold, which is pretty
crazy. We have scheduled a new solo show for May 2007 at the Shooting Gallery,
including a new hardcover book, with everything created from the beginning of this
series until about March of 2007. And I'm already trying to outdo myself and change
it up, push the work and try some things that I haven't done yet.
What made you decide to become a tattooer and how is your
apprenticeship going?
I have been a tattooed person since I was 16 and have added more to the collection
[over] the past 20 years.The difference between then and now is I know myself fairly
well, know my tastes and know what I can live with.Tattooing has always fascinated
me, but it took being a commercial artist for five years, teaching at three art
schools and painting my ass off to realize that I should have picked up tattooing years
ago.The apprenticeship with Mike Davis is going well. I'm learning a lot and excited
to contribute something new to the tattoo community.
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Shawn Barber painting the Greg Rojas portrait at the Shooting Gallery. |
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 (L-R) Andres "CURVE" Guerrero, Henry Lewis, tattoo artist
Hudge, and Shawn Barber at the Shooting Gallery for the
exhibit opening. |
 Shawn Barber with Grime at the opening. |
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