![]() ![]() Or he’ll stop by to hang around old-school shops like Smith Street Tattoo Parlour in Brooklyn.Īround 15 years ago, he began coordinating museum exhibits. In New York, he gives lectures to young professionals at shops like Kings Avenue Tattoo in Manhattan. In a booming industry, Hardy now holds an emeritus role - a tattoo historian. People ask, ‘Oh don’t you miss it?’ I tattooed for 40 years. ![]() “It's physically and emotionally really hard. “Tattooing kicks your ass,” he says with a laugh. And with a gang of back trouble and hips that have been replaced twice, he’s relieved to let his body rest. Now he uses his free time entertain his own creative urges. This, it's an impulse.”Īfter the success of Christian Audgier’s Ed Hardy line, the tattooer put down his machine and retired around 2006. I'm into art that people are driven to do without any tactical intent like, ‘I'm going to be famous.’ That's f**ked up. He continues: “Those are the kind of artists I really gravitate towards - those who come up with something nobody else has seen, out of their soul without any strategy. “She did these kooky things, paintings of common objects - what came to be pop-art in the 60s,” Hardy says. He explains that she only had one gallery show. He shuffles along and approaches a 100-year-old painting by Florine Stettheimer, describing her as an eccentric painter who was only appreciated after her death. “I’m interested in all types of art that doesn’t have a narrative,” Hardy says. Still was also a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, the oldest art school west of the Mississippi. He approaches a painting by Clyfford Still, explaining what an important role he played in the first wave of Abstract Expressionism. He admires a painting by Georgia O’Keeffe, citing her abstract portrayal of natural form as a source of inspiration. Hardy looks enthralled while perusing the works of Jasper Johns, Edward Hopper and more. ![]() He moves on swiftly, ready to explore Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1900-1960, an exhibition of paintings focused on “family and community, work, home, the spiritual and the nation.” The first room he enters, a minimalist exhibition using canvas, sculpture and light encasements, doesn’t interest him at all. Upon entry to the top floor of the Whitney, Hardy exits the elevator with determination. But everywhere he goes, someone knows his name. Nor did he anticipate how dissatisfied it would make him feel.ĭespite his complex legacy, Hardy is still a godfather in tattoo parlours. When Hardy licensed his tattoo designs to French entrepreneur Christian Audigier, he had no clue how popular the brand would become or how heavily his portfolio would be bedazzled. He is widely considered one of the first Americans to cross the Pacific to study under a traditional Japanese tattoo master. In the eyes of tattoo experts, Ed Hardy isn’t just the name of a legend, but a pioneer of the art form. According to Hardy’s 2013 memoir, Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos, the clothing line sold more than $700 million in merchandise … in 2009 alone.īut few people outside the world of tattooing understand who Ed Hardy actually is - or what little involvement he had with that clothing brand, its excessively gaudy designs and the zeitgeist that embraced it. ![]() During peak success of his clothing brand, celebrities such as Madonna, Sylvester Stallone and the cast of Jersey Shore emerged with his name scribbled across their chests. Joseph SwideĮd Hardy wields one of the most recognizable names of the 2000s. Angeles - by famed Chicano artist Freddy Negrete in the 80s. The hawk on Hardy's neck was tattooed at his old shop - Good Time Charlie's Tattooland in East Los. ![]()
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