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Shotsie Gorman

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Shotsie Gorman
Born
Carl Gorman

1951 (age 72–73)
Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forTattooing
Poetry
Painting
Sculpture
SpouseKristine Gorman
Websitetarotarttattoo.com

Carl "Shotsie" Gorman (born 1951[1]) is an American tattoo artist, painter, sculptor and poet. Gorman has been tattooing for over 42 years and is the co-founder of the Alliance of Professional Tattooists. As a poet, he was a second place winner of the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award in 1998 for his poem "Grandpa's Kitchen Tricks".

Early life and education

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Carl Gorman was born in 1951 in Paterson, New Jersey.[1][2] His nickname is a German word meaning "Sweetie".[3] As a child, his family lived in the Brook Sloate housing project for a time.[4] His father was a police officer. Gorman's father considered art an inappropriate career for a man to pursue. According to Gorman, his father considered the word "artist" a euphemism for homosexual. Gorman hid his interest in art from his parents.[1] His father expected him to become a police officer.[5]

As a child, Gorman was riding the bus with his mother when she pointed out the man sitting in front of them. It was the poet Allen Ginsberg, a regular visitor to Paterson. The poet would be a major influence on Gorman's work as an adult.[5] Gorman played baseball in middle school.[6] In 1964, he had a grand slam and helped lead the team to a state championship in 1964.[6][7]

After he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1969, Gorman expressed interest in attending art school. His father did not support him in that endeavor. Gorman worked an office job, quitting after three years. He eventually moved to SoHo in New York City and began working with artists.[4][1][5] He learned sculpture and carpentry and sought work as an actor.[5][8] He taught painting and sculpture at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut[9] for a summer semester. A friend took him to a tattoo studio around 1976. At the studio, Gorman perused a book about Japanese tattooing, which was the catalyst for him pursuing a career in tattooing.[1]

Career

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Tattooing

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Shotsie Gorman began tattooing in the 1970s in New York City when tattooing was still illegal in the city.[10] Self-taught, he learned how to draw flash influenced by photographs he'd find in old wedding albums he'd buy at flea markets. He did not undergo a formal apprenticeship, which is industry standard.[5] The first tattoo he gave was to a man who wanted three roses and a snake to celebrate the birth of his brother's triplets. Gorman's hands shook during the session and he suffered from nightmares in the wake of it.[8]

Gorman began publishing Tattoo Advocate in 1988, a bi-annual magazine that promoted tattooing, politics, art criticism, history and short fiction.[9][11][12] He operated a tattoo shop in Haledon, New Jersey, called Shotsie's Tattoos.[13][14] One journalist described Shotsie's Tattoos "more like a hair salon than a stereotypical seedy tattoo parlor depicted in movies." Classical music played while Gorman worked on clients.[9] It was estimated, as of 1995, that he had tattooed over 60,000 people at this point in his career. That same year, he held a tattoo fundraiser for a local homeless shelter, raising $10,000 by giving people tattoos.[15] During this time, tattooing was illegal in certain jurisdictions in New Jersey. Gorman met with Bill Pascrell to advocate for tattoo artists to require licenses to weed out amateurs and help further legitimize the art form.[11] He continues to advocate for tattoo artist's rights.

By 1991, Gorman had re-located Shotsie's Tattoo to Wayne, New Jersey, and opened a second shop in West Milford, New Jersey. At that time, Gorman charged up to $200 an hour for tattooing. The majority of Gorman's clients were business professionals, which he described to The New York Times as "wearing their $1,000 suits. But they take their clothes off, they're covered with tattoos."[1]

Gorman sold his Wayne tattoo shop in March 2006. The shop still operates today with the name Shotsie's Tattoos.[13] He moved to Sedona, Arizona, where he focused on his painting career.[5][13]

Gorman moved to Sonoma, California, in 2007.[8] He opened tattoo shop in Boyes Hot Springs in 2014.[16] The shop, Tarot Art & Tattoo Gallery, also doubles as an art gallery and tarot salon operated by his wife, Kristine. That year, the couple started the annual Ugly Tattoo Contest in Sonoma in 2015. Funds raised from the event benefit nonprofits and feature a competition, judged by tattoo artists, with the winner with the ugliest tattoo winning a prize.[17] In 2018, Gorman spoke at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, alongside Lyle Tuttle, as part of the museum's Porchlight series in support of the exhibition Lew the Jew and His Circle: Origins of American Tattoo..[10]

Gorman was named one of the "50 most innovative artists on the planet" by Tattoo Flash magazine in 2015.[18] In March 2017, filmmaker Tim Wetzel produced Birdnan, a short film starring Gorman. The film was featured at the Sonoma International Film Festival.[19] After the October 2017 Northern California wildfires, Sonoma County used the term "Sonoma Strong" to promote rebuilding and community building in the wake of the destructive wildfires. Gorman held an all day event at his tattoo shop, tattooing "Sonoma Strong" on people with proceeds benefiting wildfire relief efforts.[20]

When the COVID-19 pandemic required Gorman to close his tattoo shop in March 2020, he worried that the business would close. It was the first time in his career that his tattoo business was under threat to close due to finances. He received only $500 from the Paycheck Protection Program and was declined state unemployment benefits. He reached out to Assembly-member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who helped him secure unemployment benefits. Gorman credits the unemployment benefits in helping him keep his business afloat until he was able to reopen in the fall of 2020. Gorman met with Sonoma County health officials and advocated for tattoo shops to remain open during the pandemic due to the strict health and safety guidelines the shops are required to follow.[21]

In April 2022, Gorman closed his shop in California and relocated to Philadelphia.[22] Eventually he began working at Mercury Tattoo Studio in Doylestown, PA, with owners Scott Bramble and Frank Guthier.[23]

Process and style

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Gorman has at length discussions with clients before tattooing them, finalizing designs while ensuring the client's commitment to getting the tattoo.[1] He will not hesitate to try to talk a client out of a tattoo or decline to give a tattoo, if necessary, particularly if he believes the client may regret it later.[8] Gorman will not tattoo company logos or pieces that are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, or otherwise discriminatory in nature.[9][24]

He utilizes photorealism in much of his tattoo work and is notable for oversized portraits.[8] One of his most notable pieces is a full back portrait of Charles Lindbergh which took 33 hours to complete.[1] Gorman has also tattooed large works of James Dean, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Che Guevara, and Ferdinand Magellan.[1][25][26]

He's tattooed members of Talking Heads, Murphy's Law and the Allman Brothers.[8] Gorman and his work has been featured on Geraldo, The Howard Stern Show, Sally, The Morton Downey Jr. Show, Good Morning America, CBS Overnight News, and Today in New York and in Health, the New York Times, Newsweek, New York Daily News, and the Associated Press.[8][27][28][11][29][30]

Poetry

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Gorman cites Allen Ginsberg as an influence. When Gorman was a teenager, he saw Ginsberg perform at the Bottom of the Barrel Cafe in New Jersey. Gorman studied poetry with Mark Doty.[8]

He published the retrospective The Black Marks He Made : Poetry in 1999.[31] Gorman was named a second place winner of the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award and selected work from the book was published in the Paterson Literary Review in 1999.[31][32] Gorman has read poetry at the Knitting Factory, the School of Visual Arts, the Paterson Museum, and New Jersey City University.[31]

Painting and sculpture

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Gorman works out of his studio and gallery in Boyes Hot Springs, California. New Jersey City University held a retrospective of Gorman's art and tattoos in 1998.[31] After initially retiring from tattooing in 2006, Gorman moved to Sedona, Arizona, where he had an art gallery and studio for a brief time before moving to California.[5]

Gorman's work was featured in the group exhibition "Purely Abstract: Visions in Line, Form and Color" at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts in 2018.[33] In 2019, Gorman's painting of a hawk flying over vineyards was on the cover of the North Bay Bohemian.[34] In 2020, he participated in "Springtime in the Springs!", a group exhibition. His mural featuring a lizard and California poppies was displayed along Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs.[35]

Further reading

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Works by Shotsie Gorman
  • The Black Marks He Made : Poetry. Albany: Proteus Press (1999). ISBN 0963170864
Works featuring Shotsie Gorman
  • DeMello, Margo. Inked: Tattoos and Body Art Around the World [2 Volumes]. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO (2014). ISBN 9781610690768
  • Ethnographies Revisited: Constructing Theory in the Field. London: Taylor & Francis (2009). ISBN 9781134055753
  • Procter, Lynn, and Ferguson, Henry. The Art of the Tattoo. University Park: Penn State University Press (1998). ISBN 9780762402731
  • Rubin, Gayle S., and DeMello, Margo. Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community. Durham: Duke University Press (2000). ISBN 9780822324676

Personal life

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His nickname "Shotsie" is a version of the German word schatzi which means treasure or sweetie.[1] Over sixty percent of Shotsie Gorman's body is tattooed.[21] One of his tattoos is a portrait of Gandhi.[1] He's a Democrat.[36]

Gorman lived in rural Orange County, New York, for many years with his first wife, Janet.[1][4]

He moved to Sonoma, California, in 2007. Prior to Sonoma, he lived in Sedona.[8] Gorman is married to Kristine Gorman, a tarot reader and artist.[5][21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kannapell, Andrea (November 22, 1998). "IN PERSON; His Brush Is a Needle And Skin Is His Canvas". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  2. ^ Profile, HudsonReporter.com. April 3, 2003. Accessed July 31, 2023.
  3. ^ Kannapell, Andrea (November 22, 1998). "IN PERSON; His Brush is a Needle and Skin is His Canvas". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b c Allee, Rod (January 14, 2000). "The soul of an artist". The Record. Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Hansen, Nate (June 22, 2007). "Self-taught Shotsie lets go after 55 years". Sedona Red Rock News. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Ruskie, Mark (August 18, 1964). "P.B.A. Nails Midget Title on Gorman's Grand Slam". The Morning Call. p. 14. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Homer Gives PBA Playoff Tilt, 2-0; Keystone Cops Title", Paterson News.[when?]
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gogola, Tom (August 2, 2017). "Spotlight on Sonoma". Bohemian. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Cowen, Richard (July 8, 1990). ""Making the tattoo respectable" by Richard Cowen". The Record. p. 97. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Porchlight: Tattoo Tales". Contemporary Jewish Museum. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Inserro, Allison (April 28, 1991). "Tattoos: Art form of '90s has troubled image". The Herald-News. p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "Random Shots: That Old Time Religion". Against the Current. October 1990. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Louie, Tim (July 4, 2007). "Shotsie's Tattoo: Wayne, NJ". theaquarian.com. The Aquarian. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  14. ^ Bibby, Patricia Calhoun (January 13, 1991). "Tattoos Declare Independence Of Status Quo". Tulsa World. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  15. ^ Glus, Nina (August 13, 1995). ""Tattoo benefit aids project for homeless," by Nina Glus". The Herald-News. Newspapers.com. p. 11. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  16. ^ "Vision statement". Sonoma Sun. September 17, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Morris, J. D. (March 20, 2017). "Ugly Tattoo Contest doubles as Planned Parenthood fundraiser". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "50 OF THE MOST INNOV". T.A.T. Gallery. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  19. ^ "Near and Far". Bohemian. March 29, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  20. ^ Gogola, Tom (October 16, 2017). "Inking Recovery". Bohemian. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  21. ^ a b c Williams, Kate (October 22, 2020). "Tattoo you: Sonoma body art gallery back in the ink". Sonoma Index-Tribune. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  22. ^ "Longtime Sonoma Valley tattoo and tarot shop closing, owners looking forward to a fresh start". Sonoma Index-Tribune. 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  23. ^ "Shotsie Gorman". mercury-tattoo. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  24. ^ Donnelly, Melinda (January 18, 1987). ""Artist helps customers make lasting statements"". The Herald-News. p. 12. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  25. ^ Callahan, Mary (February 27, 2016). "'Tattoos and Blues' returns to Santa Rosa". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  26. ^ "Bodies as a canvas: Readers share their tattoos". Sonoma Index-Tribune. February 4, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "Shotsie Gorman will read and teach poetry". Sedona Red Rock News. August 15, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  28. ^ Health United States, Family Media, Incorporated, 1984.
  29. ^ Clark, Patrick (April 4, 1982). "Women dig in on tattoos". Daily News. p. 648. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  30. ^ Bibby, Patricia (January 11, 1991). "Tattoos get under the skins of many in the mainstream". The Napa Valley Register. p. 27. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  31. ^ a b c d "Shotsie Gorman". Poets & Writers. 5 June 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  32. ^ "Paterson Literary Review, Issue No. 28, 1999 (1998 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award Winner Issue)". Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  33. ^ Swanson, Charles (25 April 2018). "April 28: Pure Art in Healdsburg". Bohemian. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  34. ^ "Best Of 2019". Bohemian. March 19, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  35. ^ Sheridan, Lorna (May 1, 2020). "Sonoma artists bring pop-up installation to Boyes Boulevard". Sonoma Index-Tribune. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  36. ^ "Press the flesh ... and two votes for Willie". The Herald-News. November 4, 1992. p. 4. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
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