Needles and Sins

 Painter, tattooist and artistic mentor to many, Shawn Barber, has a tattoo that
reads "GSD" -- Get Shit Done. That he does. At his Memoir Tattoo studio in LA,
which he co-owns with partner Kim Saigh, Shawn divides his time expanding his
explosive tattoo portfolio, hosting art workshops, and painting portraits that
largely document the tattoo world.
Shawn began his tattoo portrait series in 2004, coming to the art as a collector
then tattooist himself. He already has published two books on this series,
"Tattooed Portraits" (2006) and "Forever and Ever" (2008), and now has a third
book and solo show of all new works coming up.
"Memoir: The Tattooed Portrait Series", a 256-page, 10x12 hardcover, will be
released by Last Gasp in July. It features 110 full color paintings, 30 color
photos and essays. The wonderful Margaret Cho wrote the foreword and
introductions are by Kim Saigh, C.W. Eldridge and myself. I am honored to have
contributed in a small way and also be a subject of one of his paintings -- being
in the company of Don Ed Hardy, Bob Roberts, Grime, Paul Booth, Marcus
Pacheco, Jack Rudy, Thomas Woodruff, Aaron Cain, Mike Giant, Adrian Lee, as
well as Kim and Margaret, among many others.
In conjunction with the book is Shawn's second solo show at the Joshua Liner
Gallery, located in New York City's Chelsea Arts district. The "Memoir: The
Tattooed Portraits Series" exhibit opens June 28th through July 28th. The
opening reception on June 28th is from 6-9 PM.
The gallery says of the show:
Read more on the exhibit and see a preview of works here. Looking forward to
the show and hope to see you there!
http://www.needlesandsins.com/2012/05/shawn-barbers-memoir-the-tattooed-portraits-series.html