Knoxville 1986- Jonathan Shaw (Patreon)

(x-posted from our Occult Vibrations Instagram) 

Taken at the 1986 Knoxville Tattoo Convention, this snap features legendary tattooer Jonathan Shaw- the son of big band leader/clarinetist Artie Shaw- drawing on a client. 

Shaw's backpiece is by Don Ed Hardy. 

As a tattoo artist, Shaw is primarily known for his take on "tribal" tattooing- while other late 80s tribal tattoo artists were mostly adapting pre-technological indigenous designs, Shaw's work was unique- black spiky forms generally worked in between existing tattoos for an aesthetic that was distinctly his. 

He's the author of several books, including his memoir SCAB VENDOR: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist, and Narcisa: Our Lady of the Ashes (fiction), and is the subject of the upcoming documentary SCAB VENDOR by directors Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thomé.