00:00This is her first tattoo, so I might as well tell you,
00:03this stings a little bit.
00:05Oh, here comes Aunt Jonathan Shaw.
00:08Here comes trouble.
00:10Jonathan came in at a period of time
00:12when there was a real major renaissance
00:14happening in tattooing.
00:15He was world famous before any of us knew who he was.
00:19He's one of those gruff, old-school scab vendors, man.
00:24My childhood was a typical American dream nightmare.
00:28We'd hang out at Jim Morrison's place in Laurel Canyon
00:31or Frank Zappa's big log cabin down the road.
00:37Room 27, Hotel Buenos Aires.
00:39That's where I began my crooked tattoo journey.
00:45Artist Jonathan Shaw is to tattoo
00:47what Jimi Hendrix was to rock and roll.
00:50Jonathan was always surrounded by culture,
00:52whether it be low culture or high culture.
00:55Tattoos, drugs, sex, rock and roll.
01:00Jonathan was kind of a maniac back then.
01:03If you came to Jonathan's door and knocked on it,
01:05most likely he was going to open the door with a shotgun.
01:11Everything at times with him was a challenge.
01:16He saw art in tattooing like nobody else saw it.
01:19And he saw tattooing in other people's art.
01:22He saw tattooing in other people's art.
01:24The quest for redemption through art
01:26has been the only thing I ever did
01:28that didn't end up in the f***ing toilet.
01:39He really kind of helped elevate
01:42the consciousness of tattooing.
01:52Tattoos, drugs, sex, rock and roll.
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