SHAWN BARBER Today Special

Shawn Barber, 'James Spencer Briggs at Work (with Aaron Wahlman)' - 2011-2012, Oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches

 Shawn Barber, 'Abstracted Self-Portrait' - 2010-2012, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches

 Shawn Barber, 'Portrait of the Artist Shige, 9 Views' - 2010-2012, Oil on canvas, 72 x 108 inches

                        Shawn BARBER’s body of work focuses primarily on painting, portraiture, and documenting contemporary tattoo culture. Barber’s intimate renditions of tattooed individuals balance both meticulous brush strokes and loose energy. Figurative in nature, these large paintings take on abstractions with explosive colors, meandering lines and paint dripping down the canvas.

Shawn earned his B.F.A from Ringling College of Art in 1999 and A.A.S. from Cazenovia College in 1997. His paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia. His paintings have been exhibited in diverse solo and group venues including: The Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC, NY; Billy Shire Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA; Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ; Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale, IL; FFDG, San Francisco, CA; University of Houston, Houston, TX.

Among his extensive achievements, he has taught drawing, painting and the business of art for over a decade at various art schools throughout the country. After years of documenting the art of tattoo, it was a logical progression to pick up the tattoo machine and add tattooist to his resume.

In 2009, Shawn and his girlfriend Kim Saigh opened Memoir Tattoo in Los Angeles, CA. His most recent fine art book, ‘Memoir : The Tattooed Portraits Series’ a 256 page hardcover visual tome, published by Last Gasp Books, was released in July 2012.