The most common canvas

By Cindy Landrum  

JUNE 30, 2011 12:41 p.m. (0)

They produce their artwork on what is has to be the most common “canvas” in the country.

From the whimsical to the mythological and from heartfelt tributes to fallen comrades, mothers and childhood heroes to political statements, their artistic creations are seen on upper arms, chests and legs of bikers, veterans and professionals alike.

They’re tattoo artists.

And they’re getting their due in an exhibit at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History.

“At a time when some art forms are basically taking a backseat, tattoo artists are going strong,” said Helen Hockwalt, the museum’s curator.

It’s an art form that has existed in South Carolina for centuries, dating back to when Native Americans used thorns and teeth to adorn their bodies with lines, dots and circles.

“The state of South Carolina has a great, if checkered, history of tattooing,” said C.W. Eldridge, co-curator of the Tattoo Archive in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In addition to the history of tattooing in South Carolina, the museum has two other related exhibitions – a collection of photographs of tattoos and body piercings taken by J. Michael Johnson at Daytona Bike Weeks and “Adornment,” a collection of art interpreting the many definitions of the word by members and guests of the CAFfeine Contemporary Art Forum.

Tattooing was legal in South Carolina and was a thriving profession prior to 1962. In the 1950s, an outbreak of hepatitis in New York was reportedly linked to Coney Island tattoo artists who were said to be working without proper sterilization procedures. South Carolina followed with a law banning tattooing unless performed by a licensed physician.

Tattooing was legalized again in South Carolina in 2006. In March of that year, Ivey Ridders was the first in the state to get a tattoo when she had a picture of a daisy inked on her right foot at a Myrtle Beach tattoo parlor.

Hockwalt said tattoo artists have many of the same characteristics of artists that use more traditional canvases.

“Just as artists use a variety of brushes, tattoo artists use a variety of tattoo machines,” said Hockwalt, who spent a year researching tattooing in the state and another year putting the exhibits together.

Hockwalt said she been asked what kind of tat she has. She doesn’t.

“I can’t paint watercolors or oils, either,” she said. “But I can hang them.”

The history exhibit features antique tattoo machines, a tattoo machine that is a replica of Eric Clapton’s guitar, “Blackie,” original tattoo flash designs of Spartanburg tattoo artist Paul Rogers.

Johnson, a Taylors resident and co-founder of the Spartanburg Photo Guild, has immersed himself journalistically into the motorcycle lifestyle that is so often shied away from by journalists and the public.

Johnson, who freelances for “Easyriders Magazine,” photographed bikers, biker ladies and others during Daytona Bike Weeks and on rides from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. to remember a fallen comrade, brother, sister or father on Memorial Day.

He’s photographed American eagles with a U.S. flag across a woman’s chest and a scene of the Last Supper on a religious biker’s abdomen.

“It shows an individual’s personal freedom statement to use their bodies as an art canvas,” he wrote in an artist statement for the exhibit. “For me, it is a part of my photojournalist journey into the motorcycle lifestyle that is so often shied away from by so many civilians and journalists.”

Allen Coleman, a member of CAFfeine and the director of the Pickens County Museum, said CAFfeine artists take a common word or theme and interpret in their own ways.

Adornment was a logical choice for an exhibit that was going to be a part of the tattoo shows, he said.

Tattoos are body adornment, a general enough word that could still be interpreted in many ways by the artists, he said.

“Sometimes, it’s obvious,” Coleman said. “Some need explanation.”

Spartanburg artist Melissa Earley, who started her career as a jewelry designer, made a beaded replica of an Eastern coral snake.

“It’s more and more difficult to do or wear anything to freak out the squares,” she wrote in her explanation.

Alexia Timberlake Boyd filled a translucent mannequin with empty pill capsules.

“We don’t realize how transparent we are as Americans,” she wrote.

The foods we eat and liquids we drink to the medicines we take are designed to conceal perceived weaknesses and enhance perceived strengths, she said.

Greenville artist J.J. Ohlinger has a series of works based on LeBron James’ decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat, something that took him from being the “Patron Saint of the Cuyahoga” to the “Judas of Basketball.”

All three exhibits run through Aug. 18.