Flint Institute of Art

 Flint Institute of Art

I was able to enjoy walking through FIA and all it has to offer. I walked through the entire institute but I focused most of my time at their features exhibit. They even setup a replica of a tattoo experience by making a mock tattoo studio within the exhibit.

The Art of Tattoos

Seeing the journey that the art of tattoos has been on was so interesting to see. They out on display the expectations of early tattoos. 

In the photos above it is a representation of what early tattoos were like in the United States. The history of tattoos goes back thousands of years and all across the world. This exhibit focused on the interesting history in the US and focused on the recent and current artist in Michigan. Early tattoos were a great representation of line work and had a very limited color scale. The photo to the left is a flash board created by Percy Waters, who was first introduced to the art of tattooing when a circus came through his home town in Alabama. He later moved to New York and then Detroit where he ran his own tattoo and supply shop. Flash sheets were used for artist to create their line work and allow them to trace and replicate their designs when a client would select their desired piece. 

On the right is a board create to show different tattoos available for clients to choose from. There are also prices listed $12.50-$25. I am not an expert in tattoo pricing but I feel like the cost has definition gone up since these designs were created. 

It was interesting to see the style of tattoo is still popular. With the similar color palette and design. These ink to paper designs were created by Zach Thomas a tattoo artist in Flint, MI. His vibrant color palette and use of shading create as well as defined line work create these beautiful designs. 

Seeing the ink to paper design being brought to life on a live canvas was very fascinating. You can see in the moment adjustments must be made to accommodate the change in canvas and medium. (Gouche, colored pencil and ink on paper to ink on skin) The ability to stay so true to the original design is a great nod to Elyria  Robinette's talent as a tattoo artist. She created a beautiful color palette to highlight and contour the features on this Nature Spirit. The well defined lines give shape on both canvas to create such an appealing picture. 

These are all works from the same artist, Cody Reed. He has a shop in Bay City named Black Flame Ritual. These pieces display a different style that has become possible with the advancements and change the tattoo industries has traveled over the years. Reed specializes in color portraits, realism and black and gray realism tattoo. You can see in the photos on the left his talent for realism tattoos. The top being an easily recognized Kathy Bates in her role in Misery, 1990. You can see the defined lines that boarder this piece as well as the softer details to shade in the contours of her face to give life to dimension. The photo below uses less color but that only emphasized the contrast of colors to make details stand out. 

The final piece is acrylic on canvas. It was eye opening for me to see artwork by a tattoo artist not on a live canvas. You know that they must sketch out their work before preforming a tattoo on a live canvas but I feel like that gets lost at times when it comes to tattoo artist. At least that is true for myself, I focus more on the end result that they show us instead of the art behind that process and the artistic talent they have outside of their tattoo work. 

Overall I had a great experience exploring FIA and all they had to offer at this time. 

I feel excited to see what they will have on exhibit in the future. For me, this experience was something I really enjoyed. I also signed up for a FIA membership which is available to anyone but as a student I was able to get this membership for free and will able to go visit anytime with no charge, early viewing of certain exhibits and lectures as well as discounts to the classes they offer. Something to look into if you are interested!