Shawn Barber

’The Tattooed Portraits Series’

I've been documenting tattoo culture and contemporary tattoo history with a series of paintings, The Tattooed Portraits Series.

I started painting tattooed artists in 2005, obsessively chronicling individuals that have pioneered the genre of contemporary tattoo art and the history of modern tattooing. My dedication and enthusiasm for the art form gradually opened doors for me to learn the craft from some of the greatest tattoo artists in the world. My life is consumed with tattooing, the art of tattoo and documentation of tattooing through painting works on this subject. Presently, over four hundred and ninety works have been made in this series. 

———————————————————————————

Shawn earned his B.F.A from Ringling College of Art in 1999 and A.A.S. from Cazenovia College in 1997. His paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia. His paintings have been exhibited in diverse solo and group venues including: Somerset House Museum, London, UK; Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Halle Saint Pierre Museum, Paris; Pinnacles Gallery, Queensland, Australia; Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA; Artspace, Shreveport, LA; Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC, NY; Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale, IL; and the University of Houston, Houston, TX.

Among his extensive achievements, he has taught drawing, painting and the business of art for 20 years at various art schools throughout the country. After years of documenting the art of tattoo, it was a logical progression to pick up the tattoo machine and add tattooist to his resume.

In 2009, Shawn and his girlfriend Kim Saigh, opened Memoir Tattoo in Los Angeles, CA.

Shawn's signature brushwork has appeared in advertising, music, magazines, children's books, corporate, entertainment and newspapers. Particularly recognized for his portrait work, he has been honored by American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, RSVP, and The Artist's Magazine among others. Articles and reviews of his work have appeared in ArtNews, Juxtapoz Magazine, The Artist's Magazine, International Tattoo Magazine, Tattoo Artist Magazine, American Art Collector and SF Weekly. His work has been featured in Taschen Books' "Illustration Now" and "1000 Best Web Portfolios", Harper Collins' "The Big Book of Illustration Ideas", Mark Murphy's "Dialogue Book", Schiffer Publishing's "I Love Tattoos", and Outre Gallery Press' "Tattoo Parlour".

Commercial clients include: Nike, Target, Google, T.E.D. Conference, Gatorade, NBC, Subway, Maxim, Scholastic Books, Elektra Records, American Airlines, Converse, Bulleit, The Grammy Awards, Atlantic Records, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone magazine, Psychology Today, Verizon T-Mobile, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, The Progressive, NYU School of Law, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Hard Rock Cafe, Utne Reader, The Source,  The Washington Post, MTV Networks, Saks Fifth Ave, TBWA, Yoga Journal, Woodward West / Woodward East, Tres Records / Johnson and Jonson, space150, Creature Skateboards, Nitro Snowboards, Rockstar Energy, Business Week, The Village Voice and the Wall Street Journal.

Additional Links

www.memoirtattoo.com