Visionary Primitive 2006...

Back in December of 2006, I went down to Alex Grey's COSM in NYC. A small group of artists were invited to tattoo there. Cory Kruger was among the artists chosen, and he asked if I would be his client for the event. We were getting close to wrapping up my “To Kill a Mockingbird” sleeve, so I headed into the city to get some work on my arm. It was a LONG day of getting tattooed, and I was pretty miserable at the end. Probably why I haven’t thought about it much since! Joe Capobianco sent me a link to this YouTube video yesterday, and it all came back to me. The artists all tattooed clients and painted in an open gallery space where the public was welcome to come in and observe. Almost like a small intimate convention. It wasn’t a traditional tattoo event, so I figured I’d share it with everyone here…


And here is PRICK Magazine's coverage of the event...

VISIONARY PRIMITIVE

"Certainly more than a little intimidating"

by BFisch

Photos by Andrew Blackstein

From the February 2007 issue of PRICK Magazine.

A group exhibition featuring Guy Aitchison, Michele Wortman, Joe Capobianco, Jon Clue, Cory Kruger, James Kern, Jon Jon, Jarrett Demartino, Zachariah, Christian Masot, Dan Craft, and Alex Grey. Original and collaborative art created by the visionary minds of modern day tattoo masters. On the fourth floor of an old warehouse, nestled sweetly between the chaos of West 27th Street’s obnoxious drunken club scene, sits a tranquil and serene gallery and art space belonging to Alex Grey, the master of psychedelic visionary art. Alex Grey’s Chapel of Sacred Mirrors and Microcosm Gallery is one of the most soothing places around, but on this particular night – made evident by the bounce of the floorboards – the tattoo world was there to party. This weekend was dedicated to Visionary Primitive, a journey through 21st century body modification.The show featured some of America's modern day tattoo masters, with art enthusiasts traveling from all over. Jon Jon, Holly Lane, and the Cutting Edge Crew were having a blast and making sure everyone there did the same.

Alex Grey in front of one of his paintings.

Alex Grey working on a painting.

The event kicked off around 2pm on Saturday with a live tattoo and art demonstration. Six of the country’s top tattoo artists worked with uninterrupted fervor to produce some very detailed tattoos while six others worked on canvas. PRICK had the great pleasure to talk with Michele Wortman, who was pouring all of her positive energy into a piece described as “unconditional love,” about the event and what it was like to paint in Alex Grey’s studio. As she hammered away with her undeniable radiance and flower power, she spoke about the incredible inspiration she was feeling in the Yankee Stadium of Art, and the admiration she has for Alex and Allyson Grey. Speaking for her and Guy Aitchison, she said that, “Alex and Allyson are two of our art heroes and it was a magical and incredibly inspiring experience to share the connective and creative energy during the live painting presentation.” Aitchison also mentioned how “Alex has always represented, to me, a sort of gold standard in terms of vision, ambition, and high-powered creativity.After working so many tattoo conventions, it's nice to be able to be part of such an unusual, offbeat tattoo event where we could expose our art to a new audience.”

(L-R) James Kern, Cory Kruger, Guy Aitchison and Michele Wortman
After a short dinner recess, festivities were back in full swing at midnight, literally. Joe Amato and CoRE’s Steve Joyner treated the attendees to a live body modification performance, with Spliff and Jiji from DisGraceLanD suspending from the ceiling on an 8-foot long seesaw and brass knuckle rig. Not your traditional Okeepa ceremony, but these two are warriors for sure.

Once everyone had their feet back on the ground, it was time to get their heads far into the clouds with Ethnocentric Salon, a full-on, high class rave with DJs spinning trance accompanied by all sorts of psychedelic projections covering the walls. The main attraction of the night was a live painting exhibition that featured Alex and Allyson Grey, Jon Clue, Cory Kruger, Michele Wortman, Guy Aitchison, and James Kern. The party continued until about 5am, at which point everyone needed to indulge in some late night Gray’s Papaya hotdogs and get some sleep before tomorrow’s big day.

Joe Capobianco at work.

Guy Aitchison working on Thad Minick.
Sunday kicked off with a special screening of Modify, followed by a brief lecture before moving on to the official opening of the Visionary Primitive Gallery. This unique exhibition included original artwork specifically for the event as well as the live paintings that were done the previous night. The artists were personally selected in an attempt to achieve something “that you can’t get everyday.” All of the paintings from the live event will be on display at Cutting Edge Body Arts, which is located on West 8th street between 5th street and 6th street.All the work is for sale at extremely reasonable prices, with half of the proceeds going to CoSM, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the movement of Visionary Art and recognizing the divine within.

Thanks very much to the sponsors: Eddie Kolo’s H2Ocean and Unimax NYC for holding it down all weekend, and Jon Jon and his wife for their incredibly gracious hosting throughout the event. PRICK looks forward to seeing how they top this in years to come. A special thanks goes out to the Greys for all of their help and the incredible inspiration to all of the artists.

Cory Kruger tattooed Jessica Landers for over seven hours


Chapel of Sacred Mirrors MicroCoSM Gallery 540 West 27th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001 (212) 594-8841 MicroCoSM Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm. For more information go to http://www.microcosmgallery.com/ or http://www.cosm.org/.

And finally, a page from the original PRICK magazine article...