Blurring The Boundaries Of Fine Art And Tattoo Art At Atelier Eva

Hailey self-identifies on Instagram as a florist and lepidopterist (a person who studies or collects moths and butterflies, as exemplified by the late Vladimir Nabokov), so it's no surprise that her artwork emphasizes floral imagery , the fine lines and the ephemeral designs.

Seeing examples of his work for the first time last month, we found a ripe, bright red strawberry with a natural sheen and fresh-looking green caps. Its elongated, realistic shadow drew our eyes to the left, evoking centuries of symbolism. Strawberries adorned the marginal illuminations of medieval books of hours. Pointing downwards, they represented drops of Christ's blood, and the five petals of his white flower signified his five wounds. Shakespeare referred to the delicate, heart-shaped fruit embroidered on Desdemonde's handkerchief Othelloand again when the Duke of Gloucester asks Bishop Ely to “send for some” Richard III The Bard clearly borrowed from the 16th century Raphael Holinshed The Chronicles.

Noble literary allusions aside, Hailey's depiction of the much-cultivated hybrid species of the genus Fragaria was a welcome personal reference for my husband Mike, son Michael, and me. Before looking at the Art in the Atelier: Wear your art on your sleeve opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, along with a painting by self-taught Chicago visual artist Leah Gardner, Michael and I had suggested that Mike get a strawberry tattoo in honor of our second rescue dog Fresa (Spanish for strawberry ), as I already had our first. Rescue Pug Mix Athena's namesake emblazoned on her arm.

“A work of art that is not based on feeling is not art at all,” said Paul Cézanne.

Hailey found inspiration in Gardner's work to break beyond her signature style, a creative collaboration celebrated with Atelier Eva's second annual art exhibition (and first on public view) Art at Atelier. It's a rare glimpse into how the two art forms inform and influence each other.

“Rather than settling for a single vision, each tattoo artist is free to explore, express and create,” according to Atelier Eva's website. The sprawling tattoo studios are housed in an industrial-style North Williamsburg boutique condominium, a stark contrast to the neon signs that lure passers-by into cramped spaces where they often wail on a drunken whim.

This creative freedom, emphasized by the pair of visual artists and tattoo artists, is essential to elevate the latter to an art form. Tattoo art continues to rise in status, based on the fungible space that blurs the boundaries between street art and studio art and gallery art and museum art and auctions and fine arts.

“With its traditional and potentially spiritual nature, tattooing easily qualifies as folk art. However, given the skill and artistry of certain tattoo artists…, tattooing also ranks among the fine arts,” according to the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. “While tattooing was once a hobby associated primarily with sailors, carnival workers and prison inmates, tattooing today features in major museum exhibits.”

Atelier Eva is part of an emerging global trend.

Last year, Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum hosted a pop-up tattoo parlor, with tattoo artists reproducing the Dutch master's work on the flesh of paying visitors. A year earlier, the New Museum partnered with the Ace Hotel New York and the Ace Hotel Brooklyn for an eight-part series that included special flash art tattoo sessions. Auction houses such as Guernsey's and Bray & Co. have expanded the market for tattoo art collectors.

At least one artist has taken a less subtle approach. In February, a Swiss collector bought 12 pieces of tattooed skin by Austrian artist Wolfgang Flatz, including the artist's name written in Cyrillic and a quote from the Roman philosopher Cicero: “Dum spiro spero” (while I breathe I hope). The controversial first known sale of human tissue as art was originally planned as a charity auction run by Christie's.