Tattoo artist Rich Fie is representing south Queens in a Manhattan gallery show called “Paint and Punk Rock,” on display through April 9. Forum Photo by Eugénie Bisulco.
A few short years ago, Rich Fie, 39, a native of Woodhaven, was working at Verizon. It was in his free time that he began to be interested in art, simply by hanging out with friends who had tattoos and followed punk rock culture. A self-taught artist who began his own exploration into the culture mainly by observation, his doodlings began to be noticed among his punk rock friends. Soon he was creating flyers for their bands and had secured an apprenticeship at a local tattoo parlor.
Fie, who lives in Ozone Park, talks about his love for “outlaw” or underground art. In the tattoo world, these “underground” images are somewhat standardized, many having existed since World War II. It’s then up to tattoo artists to both modernize and individualize them. During Fie’s one-year apprenticeship at R & D Tattooing of Ridgewood, he was primarily working with traditional, standard designs.
“I tattooed all my punk rock friends,” he explained. “They were my guinea pigs.”
A lot of those friends, along with his former boss at R & D, joined Fie and fellow tattoo artist Ron Bianco last week for the opening of “Paint and Punk Rock,” a showcase of their work at Art on A Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The gallery was packed to the gills with a diverse crowd – no set age or tattoo preference visible – of visitors from Queens, Manhattan, and even the far reaches of Jersey.
Rory Sutherland, 35, of Hackensack, who mentioned a large wasp tattoo covering his entire back, had heard about the show through Facebook. He brought his friend Stephanie, also a tattoo aficionado, from West Milford.
“The colors seem more vivid on paper,” Sutherland said. “A mermaid caught my eye.”
The colorful tattoo world that Fie and Bianco managed to create for the gallery show could be described as beautiful or as grittily rebellious, depending on how you look at it. Indeed, the punk rock culture which is so inextricably tied to these images is based on social defiance and protest.
Fie himself is in a punk rock band. His musical instrument? “I yell and scream,” he said with a smirk.
“Paint and Punk Rock” will be on exhibit through April 9. The gallery is located at 24 Avenue A.
By Eugénie Bisulco eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com
