Chris Garver Interview: Tattooing from the Gutter to the Top – Scene 360

In a summarized historical explanation, the Tattoo Renaissance, began in the late 1950s with tattooers like Lyle Tuttle, Don Nolan, Zeke Owens, Ed Hardy, and others pioneering the way.

Between the hippie movement of the late 60s and the feminist campaigns and rights movements, the tattoo industry saw itself in the midst of a rebirth of sorts; resulting in an increase of customer base, visibility through tattooed celebrities (like Janis Joplin) and pop culture. During the 2000s, tattooing had yet another peak with the appearance of television shows such as Inked (2005) and Miami Ink (2008, starring Chris Garver, Ami James and friends), which gave us a look into the lives of tattooists and their studiosand improving social stigma.

With more legendary artists contributing to 21st-century history, Chris Garver is among them and one we are highlighting here, today. He became a professional tattooer in the late 1980s and has worked in New York City since the 1990s. Below, you can read our interview with Garver taking us back to that period of time when tattooing was banned by the Health Department.

Yeah, working at Adorned exposed me to more tattooers that were really pushing it artistically, and more people like that were my age. Before that, I was working with older guys and biker shops So, when I got to Adorned, it was great for me. I think my growth was pretty big there.

Definitely. Yeah, everybody that I worked with were people I felt were way more advanced than I was, so I had to play some catch up. But it was great. The artists that were always thereMike Ledger and Scott Harrisonthey were awesome to work with. And wed constantly have great guest artists.

Adorned owner Lori Leven was focused on the business side, which facilitated that you and colleagues concentrated on the creative side.

Yeah, she was really good at that. I think thats one of the greatest things she did, making tattooing really comfortable for the artist. She catered to the artist and she knew how to do business too. Normally, the guys I worked with [pauses] was like a working on a pirate ship, and then all of a sudden it was civilized, almost.

Before she did Adorned, I dont think that any shops had helpers, like assistants, people that cleaned after you and bused your table. Before, it was like you did everything yourself.

Now the tattooers are all spoiled. We all have people do things for us.

I think one of the things that kept New York back a little bit was that it was illegal. I think that a lot of people probably are scared to tattoo in an environment where youre doing something criminal. So guys that were more artsy, maybe they didnt want to deal with getting arrested for tattooing, or tattooing unsavory people.

Probably! Yeah, I think doing something illegal stops many people from doing it. [Laughs] I almost preferred it, it was more dangerous.

It kept timid people away.

No, I never got arrested. But once my boss Jonathan Shaw was like, You know what? Lets just do it openly. Put a tattoo sign in the window. And we were like, All right, lets see what happens. And then I remember one day a cop came in with his uniform on. I was like, Oh, here we go. I was like, Hey, how are you doing? Hes like, Yeah, I was wondering how much a Jesus head is? And I was like [Laughs]

You were lucky!

Yeah, he didnt care. It would have been the health department that we probably had to watch out for.

I think it was 95 or 96, then tattoo shops just started popping up everywhere. (It was kind of awful!)

I did. I actually like Ed Hardy, Eddie Deutsch, Dan Higgs, and Freddy Corbin. But I think a lot of people do, and the chrome toaster thing and everything was sacred (with a crown of thorns around it). I never got into it that much. I did a few chrome-y [effect] looking things, but I didnt really get into the weirdo stuff.

It has a universal acceptance and the quality of the art has definitely elevated quite a lot. I think its still underground art in a way. Theres a lot of tattoo exhibits and museums. Theres tattoo artists that have exhibited in all sorts of high-art places.

Like Ed Hardys recent art show at the de Young museum.

Yeah. Ed Hardy, Dr Lakra We had a show here at the Somerset Housea pretty prestigious place. So, [basically] tattooing went from the gutter to the top.

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Chris Garver Interview: Tattooing from the Gutter to the Top - Scene 360