Gotham Tattoo's Featured Artist - Jeremy Garrett a.k.a. NYARTMAN - January 2009

Gotham Tattoo's feature debut is one of the United States' hardest working young trail blazers in the tattoo industry, Jeremy Garrett best known as "New York Art Man". This cat's one of a kind!  He avoids the media like the plague; having never sent one photo of his work into the big tattoo rags AND stranger than that......he tattoos out of a private studio.  How can someone in today's highly polished, full of fame and bling tattoo scene make a living in today's economy especially in NYC?  Bottom line is you have to work extremely hard and in Garrett's case, against an extremely peculiar set of circumstances.

At first blush one might think he's your typical New Yorker, but not by any stretch of the imagination.  Immediately upon meeting him you'll detect a slight drawl in his voice.  That's right, he's a bourbon sippin' Southerner at heart, raised in the house of Rock 'n Roll, Memphis, Tennessee.  Oh, and one more minor detail.....he's Jewish and Orthodox at that!  Too much...... what about a tat on Saturday???!!!!!  Intriguing dude and we have lots of questions, so without further ado......GT is proud to present Jeremy Garrett, www.nyartman.com

GT: Well, I guess the most obvious question would be, do you have any tattoos?

NYARTMAN: I have the entire Torah tattooed somewhere very special. No, I'm just kidding, I don't have any.

GT: How did you ever become such a skilled tattoo artist?

NYARTMAN: I feel like I've had this conversation before. Actually this is something I'm asked a lot. When I was in college I had a friend who wanted to get tattooed and at that time in New York City tattooing was illegal. If you wanted a tattoo you either found someone out of State or you took your chances with someone you heard about who worked out of their apartment. Anyway, this friend of mine offered to buy me a Huck Spaulding tattoo kit if I would tattoo them. I agreed, that was a life altering decision for me. Well, when I got the kit I didn't know what the hell to do with it and I was scared to death to use it on anyone. One day in class, I was talking to a buddy of mine and telling him about the situation. Lo and behold he knew how to tattoo and he taught me how. Well, that's it in a nutshell.

GT: That's a great story... who was the guy that taught you?

NYARTMAN: Everyone just called him "Little Dan" because he was little and his name was Dan Paolicelli . I know he had a shop somewhere in Long Island and I think it was called "Little Dan's Tattoo Emporium ".

GT: Where did you guys go to college?

NYARTMAN: School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. It was a great college. I loved it.

GT: How long did you apprentice under him?

NYARTMAN: For about 2 hours.

GT: What do you mean 2 hours?

NYARTMAN: I don't know, he was a good teacher I guess or I picked it up quickly. I mean he had me practice on pig skin for a couple of weeks.

GT: That wasn't kosher was it?

NYARTMAN: Certainly not. Man, it was really nasty. I would go to the Meat Market over on West 14th Street and get the butcher to cut off a long strip for me. I would drag it home and cut off a chunk and slap it on a plate and get to work. When I was finished for the day I would put it in the fridge until the next day. The really gross part about it was that the hair would continue to grow and I'd have to shave down the little bristly chunk before I could continue working on it.

GT: This had to horrify a nice Jewish young man like yourself?

NYARTMAN: I wasn't always religious and especially during my college years.

GT: Did your mother know about all of this?

NYARTMAN: Ha, that's pretty funny... no not all of the disgusting details, but she knew I was starting to tattoo.

GT: What did she think about that?

NYARTMAN: She started crying and made me promise her that I would never get a tattoo.

GT: You've kept your word, but how does the whole tattooing process jive with your faith?

NYARTMAN: When I first started becoming religious I was very concerned, this was my main livelihood. I consulted with several orthodox rabbis about it and they've all told me basically the same thing. As long as I don't knowingly tattoo any fellow Jews there is no conflict. Plus my rabbi told me I had to put a sign in my workspace that stated "The Torah Forbids Tattooing" to make sure.

GT: Yeah I thought I remembered the Bible saying that tattooing was forbidden, isn't what you're doing hypocritical?

NYARTMAN: Look I'm certainly not one to be telling anyone what the Bible says but the way it was explained to me and the way I understand the Torah is that the commandment, which forbids tattooing, was given only to the Jewish people it doesn't apply to non-Jews. So there would be no trespass involved with a non-Jew getting tattooed or for a Jew to tattoo a non-Jew.

GT: Is it true that Jews who have gotten tattooed are not allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery?

NYARTMAN: No, it's not true. Trust me, my rabbi is also a funeral director. For a Jew it's a sin, that's for certain, just like eating non kosher food or committing adultery. The only difference is that tattooing is a visible display of the past transgression. So there's a lot more stigma attached to it. Jewish cemeteries would be pretty empty if those that sinned were not allowed to be buried there.

GT: Enough religion, what's it like being one of New York City's best ink slingers?

NYARTMAN: It's hard work and very humbling. There are some extremely talented artists here. I'm just grateful to get to work along side them in this awesome city.

GT: Why haven't you sent any of your work to the tattoo rags to be published?

NYARTMAN: I don't know, too lazy I guess. No, it's just I've always felt a bit of an outsider in this field. I probably should. Hey you never know... one day.

GT: You really are an underground artist, but you haven't always been. You use to have a tattoo shop in the East Village in Manhattan. Do you think you'll ever move back into the mainstream and open another commercial store?

NYARTMAN: I've thought about it. You know, I was in Israel for couple of years painting and pretty much being a Jewish hippie. Anyway, when I knew that I was coming back to NYC I seriously considered it but I don't think so. There are too many shops in NYC as it is, they're almost as numerous as pizza parlors.  Besides that, I like  having my studio in a private workspace in Manhattan.

GT: This has been a very interesting interview and I appreciate you being so generous with your time. One last question. You've been tattooing in NYC for several years now where do you see yourself in ten years.

NYARTMAN: I have no idea. I'm kind of a day by day sort of guy. I would like to in some way give back to the tattooing community for all that's given me and make a contribution to the American underground art scene. I've been working on a book that might accomplish this goal. It's just a matter of finding the time to finish it. Maybe I'll have it finished in ten years.

On behalf of Gotham Tattoo, I would like to thank Jeremy for taking the time to give our members such a colorful glimpse into the real New York City underground tattooing scene. You can find out more about Jeremy Garrett, also known as NYARTMAN, by visiting his website at http://www.nyartman.com.

If you know of an interesting ink slinger who's making positive impact in the tattooing community and deserves to be recognized let us know. Send OverLord an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..