Above: Portrait of Juan Puente with new son Otto. Below: Mr Barber with tattoo legend Bob Roberts… 

In the world of tattooing, a vast array of artists make a living inking portraits into miles of human flesh, but when it comes to memorializing the genre’s foremost characters, painter and fellow tattooed man SHAWN BARBER is the go-to guy. Paying homage to some of the skin trade’s living legends and rising stars with “Tattooed Portraits,” a solo show at the venerable BILLY SHIRE FINE ARTS gallery in Culver City, Barber unveils old master quality likenesses of Jack Rudy, Juan Puente, Kat Von D, Mark Mahoney, Mister Cartoon, Clay Decker, and Bob Roberts every bit as realistic as their flesh and blood counterparts. Unconstrained by the boundaries of traditional portraiture, Barber’s discerning eye for detail leads him to capture his subjects in an array of full body portraits and carefully chosen detailed close-ups of artist’s hands, backs, and especially their tools of the trade: the tattoo machines themselves, in a never-ending quest to reveal intimate aspects of his often reclusive subjects who are generally more comfortable creating images than starring in them. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »