Baltimore celebrates tattoos: Art that penetrates the skin

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Tattoos lie beneath soccer moms’ sneakers, doctors’ scrubs and judges’ robes.

But inking reaches an even more accomplished level today as people show off the artworks inserted into their skin at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s “Baltimore Ink: Patterns on Bodies” event.

“This is the first time a Maryland art museum recognizes body decorations as an art form,” said Mick Michieli-Beasley, tattoo artist and co-owner of Dragon Moon tattoo studio, a Glen Burnie fixture since 1978. “It’s a huge step for the tattoo industry.”

“You have no idea how happy this opportunity makes me,” she said. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve spent the last 24 years of my career trying to elevate the profession and change people’s perceptions of what it is. Tattooing is finally coming into its own.”

During Baltimore Ink, clients of local tattoo studios will reveal their bodily markings for a different type of runway show.

The parade of inked bodies, which links traditions seen in the BMA’s “Meditations on African Art: Patterns” exhibit to our culture’s fascination with tattoos, will blow audiences away, said Preston Bautista, the innovator behind the BMA’s Baltimore Ink event. “It’s going to be an amazing live gallery with a lot of large pieces — full sleeves and backs.”

The evening begins with a discussion among national tattooing talents lead by Bob Baxter, editor of Skin & Ink magazine. Twice throughout the night, the BMA will take viewers on tours of the museum’s collections to see body adornments across cultures.

Kip Fulbeck, art professor at the University of California and Chicago flash artist Mitch O’Connell will be at “Baltimore Ink” to sign copies of their books, respectively “Tattoo Portraits” and “Tattoos.”

“I always did a bit of everything — gallery shows, illustrations, advertising art, you name it,” said O’Connell who studied at the American Academy of Art and Art Institute of Chicago. “But then I started getting photos in the mail of my images that people liked so much they got a tattoo of them.”

With admirers of his work and a pang in his gut to create old school flash, or retro kitsch images from the 30s, 40s and 50s, O’Connell decided to craft tattoo designs.

As for whether or not he is an artist, O’Connell said, “Calling someone an artist is a conclusion. I know I like to draw. Someone else can decide if I’m an artist or not.”

IF YOU GO

Baltimore Ink: Patterns on Bodies

When: 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31

Where: Baltimore Museum of Art, Art Museum Drive, Baltimore

Tickets: $10 for runway show and after party; the panel discussion sold out.

Info.: 443-573-1701

jnovak@baltimoreexaminer.com

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