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Visitors to the Oceanside Museum of Art mull about at the Masterworks of Body Art exhibit last Saturday night.
Angela Carone
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The tattooed models line up after the runway show as museum patrons look on.
Angela Carone
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A model displays his tattoo sleeves during the Masterworks of Body Art runway show.
Angela Carone
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Three of the models wait to go on stage at the Oceanside Museum of Art.
Angela Carone
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Tattooed models mix with visitors and patrons heading downstairs for hors d'oeuvres and drinks at OMA.
Angela Carone
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Dana Ann Claar, Sarah Yassine, and Natalie Lubrutich enjoy drinks and live music after the runway show.
Angela Carone
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James Cooley shows off his back tattoo.
Angela Carone
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Kristian White wears his body art front and center.
Angela Carone
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You had to look down to see some of the tattoos on display.
Angela Carone
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In one corner of the museum, artists from Black Waves Tattoo in Los Angeles performed a live demonstration of traditional "tatau" using Polynesian hand tools.
Angela Carone
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Close up of the Polynesian hand tools striking ink into the model.
Angela Carone
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Freewind, the tattoo artist demonstrating traditional Polynesian tatau art at OMA.
Angela Carone
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A woman kindly rubs the model's foot as he gets his traditional tattoo in front of a large crowd at OMA.
Angela Carone
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A model with a full body tattoo waits to go out on the runway.
Angela Carone
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Some California state pride on this model participating in the Masterworks of Body Art at Oceanside Museum of Art.
Angela Carone
For the second year in a row, the Oceanside Museum of Art brought together the art world and the tattoo world for an evening that included a runway show of men and women with tattoos on their backs, chest, legs, arms (commonly called sleeves), and posteriors (ouch!). The show featured work by some of the leading body artists in Southern California.
I decided to drive up to Oceanside on Saturday night to photograph the Masterworks of Body Art exhibit. I wasn't the only one. It was standing room only in the upstairs gallery during the runway show, and every time I turned around, cell phones were held in the air as attendees snapped photos.
Well-heeled patrons happily mingled with a large shirtless contingent, who generously kept their body art on display for up-close viewing.
The whole evening was curated by Chris Winn, owner of WinnTattoos, and apparently known for his traditional and Japanese inspired designs.
I don't have a tattoo for many reasons, not the least of which is my fear of needles. Imagine how I cringed at the demonstration of a traditional "tatau" procedure using Polynesian hand tools instead of a tattoo machine. The poor, willing subject was laid out on a raised platform in the corner of the museum lobby. Freewind, a tattoo artist who specializes in this traditional practice, tapped two sticks into a needle that pressed ink into the guy's upper chest to create the design. A woman rubbed the guy's feet throughout the process, in a sweet but probably futile attempt at distraction. See photos of the procedure in the gallery above.
