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Written by J.L. Schnabel
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010, 5:29am
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 The film Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry explores the roots of American tattooing through the life of its most iconoclastic figure, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins.
Living in the gritty city of Philadelphia has it perks. A tribe of artists such as Jim Houser, Adam Wallacavage and Paul Romano call it home. Some of the best tattoo artists live here too, having set up shop to a new generation of youth determined to cement their status in life with permanent markings.
Philadelphia is also home to visionary director Erich Weiss, who's first documentary film Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry was recently released on dvd. Known throughout popular culture, Sailor Jerry's work has appeared on clothing, rum bottles and in the skin of millions of people. The luminous documentary sheds a new light on the man behind the flash, through rare interviews, old news clips and lost letters.
Fecal Face had a chance to catch up with Erich Weiss in his hometown to ask him a few questions about the film.
Photos provided by Erich Weiss
Portrait of Weiss by Adam Wallacavage
Interview by J.L. Schnabel
What was it about Sailor Jerry that inspired you to commit years of your life in pursuit of documenting his life and art?
 All said and done, this project took over 4 years from start to finish. So looking back, yes, there would have to be a pretty good reason to commit so much time and energy. Well, it definitely was covering a topic that I was and still am extremely interested in. I've been getting tattooed since I was about 14 and the characters always fascinated me and situations that I encountered when I entered a tattoo shop... especially as a kid. These places were scary; it wasn't friendly, there were no camera crews or bedazzled clothing lines... just sketchy borderline types in mostly shitty parts of town. Yet in these shops were walls just plastered with these awesome galleries of what really is a kind of original, American/ Outsider folk art. And I think Sailor Jerry is a great example of this -not just in his artwork, but in his character as well... he really is symbolic of a certain time when tattooing was more in tune with skid row than main street; yet the artistry and craft he brought forth was so groundbreaking and exciting that it still inspires today. By using Sailor Jerry as the anchor for a film, it allowed for us to draw light on the history of tattooing before the TV programs and fashion shows; and show the roots of a trade that in some ways has become so commodified and exploited that much of its original intent, ideology, and well, symbolism, have been lost- or at least heavily diluted.
Can you talk a bit about the process?
In terms of practical process, just gathering content for the film was extremely slow... which I think was to be expected. Most of the people interviewed for the film have been tattooing for more than 40 years... and, like Jerry, were rightfully guarded and extremely hesitant to be interviewed... , as they didn't know me from every other jerk-off looking to get some face time. You don't just walk into someone's shop with a camera and start asking questions. So, I started with people I knew and slowly, doors in this secular world would begin to open. But still, it took a considerable amount of time to get people to actually agree and talk to me; let alone be interviewed. A lot of people vouched for me, and I think, in the end, the true intentions of what we were trying to do could be seen. I remember the first time I called Mike Malone - I think the phone call lasted 38 seconds... ending with him telling me to go fuck myself. But then eventually Hardy and a couple other guys vouched for me and he agreed; without his interviews I don't think this film could ever have been made.
The sheer amount of traveling and information gathering also added to the slowness of the process. I did interviews and went through archive libraries in Chicago, NYC, DC, Maryland, Philly, San Fran, LA, up north in Ukiah... and then of course, Honolulu. I had already cut a rough by the time we got to Honolulu and met Sailor Jerry's son, David. But of course, his insight and archives were so important that we had to go back and re-cut the entire film.
In terms of creative process, well let's just say my liver has seen better days.
Do you think this secrecy has roots in the idea that tattooing is seen is some cultures as ritual and others as signs of criminality?
Perhaps, but it seems in Jerry's case, he just didn't want the government sticking it's nose in his business... he had actually quit tattooing for a bit in the 1950's because of some IRS issues. I think he just didn't want Uncle Sam or really general society to know what kind of cash tattooers were bringing in. Also, he was a firm believer in respecting your teachers and the ideas around lineage and apprenticeship; which the closed nature of tattooing really fostered. You had to earn your way in. Lyle Tuttle told me a story about how at the Pike in Long Beach, there was a tattoo artist that used to make people put a bag over there head and sit in the corner if they came in and started asking questions. A somewhat more subtle approach I guess.
Did you learn anything that surprised you about Sailor Jerry that you learned while making the film?
Jerry was a pretty private guy. He hated the press and hated publicity, so actual media based recordings of the man were pretty hard to find. He was an avid letter writer, and Ed Hardy wrote a book based on these letters, called Sailor Jerry-American Tattoo Master. That was a starting point on gaining some insight, but most of what I gathered was through the oral history of those people that were inspired by or knew Jerry himself. Jerry's "protegees"- Mike Malone, Zeke Owen, and Don Ed Hardy, provided the majority of information; as well as Jerry's semi- contemporaries, like Philadelphia Eddie Funk and Lyle Tuttle. The lore these guys spun about Jerry- from tattooed monkey butts to heart attack inducing purple ink, all added to the charm. He was a complex social chameleon- an autodidactic; self made man who was comfortable both in the hooker-strewn streets of Honolulu's Chinatown or the local Masons' Hall. He spoke Chinese, played the sax, was a vicious and mean spirited practical joker and a Goldwater-style social libertarian.
I think what was most surprising or insightful was listening to tapes of Jerry's radio program. Jerry had a radio program called "Old Ironsides" on KTRG in Honolulu, were he would recite poetry and rant politically- with this deep baritone, super authoritative voice. His son had old reel to reels of the program and when I finally heard them I was blown away... it's one thing to see pictures or hear tall tales, but to listen his actual voice, well, it just feels complete.
How do you think Sailor Jerry would feel about the popularity of his art in popular culture?
I asked the same thing to Ed Hardy- who I think would have an interesting take on a question like that. Ed pretty much said that someone like Jerry, who's life was such a dichotomy, would probably dig the fact that in some aspects tattooing is getting much more respect and is more socially acceptable- I mean, he was a really conservative man. But in other ways he would probably be pretty surly, as a majority of this exploitation of tattoo "culture" has definitely gone a bit overboard in its lack of authenticity. Who knows, its really all conjuncture ... let's face it, tattooing has always been an artistic trade- if don't believe me, well then try walking into any street shop and asking for a free tattoo.
For a first film you've been very successful. Do you have any plans for a future in film? What are you up to these days?
I plan on sleeping for the next month or so. Its winter here on the East Coast and it sucks. Hibernation is not over-rated at all. If you are really bored, you can see upcoming projects at http://wunderhorror.blogspot.com.
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry is available on DVD at http://www.indiepixfilms.com/. For more information and tour dates, visit http://horismokumovie.com/.
{moscomment}
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| Dave Kinsey @FFDG
Last Friday we were pleased to open up Dave Kinsey's first solo show in San Francisco since before 2000 when Dave was doing a lot of work in streets with his then work partner Shepard Fairey. A lot of the smaller works are homage to that era, i.e., the titles are San Francisco street names. Love his new direction.
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| STREETOPIA @The Luggage Store
After our Dave Kinsey opening last Friday, we made our way down Market Street for Luggage Store's opening of STREETOPIA. Ran into a lot of friends and was amazed at how transformed the gallery was. Multiple rooms built out to include a Free Cafe, a theater, a gallery/studio, and a library. Streetopia will host free performances, teachings, and talks in the city every day for the show's month-long run and, thus, will provide a temporary space that offers opportunities for participation, agency, critical thinking, learning, sharing of ideas, and tools for community building that will reverberate in the real city after the city we build in the gallery is long gone.
 |
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| Matt Moore in Paris
From Matt Moore: A new series of (entirely spraypaint) canvas painting created during a 1-month residency in Paris. A true evolution from the purely geometric abstractions I have explored in my past few exhibitions : Sun Ray Ricochet (Moscow 2011) + XYZ Axis (Cincinnati 2011) + Crystals & Lasers (Paris 2010) + Parallel Universe (Sao Paulo 2009) + 20/20 (Barcelona 2008). An exciting new chapter.
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| Barry McGee at Prism LA
Doug Neill emailed over a few photos from Barry McGee's opening last Friday at Prism in Los Angeles.
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| Further Collective Flagstaff Mural
The Further Collective: Mario Martinez (Mars-1), Damon Soule & Oliver Vernon were in Flagstaff last week collaborating on an outdoor mural at The Flagstaff Brewing Company located in the historical district of downtown Flagstaff, AZ.
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| INTERVIEW with Tristan Patterson
Director of the documentary film DRAGONSLAYER --> DRAGONSLAYER is a documentary about the skateboarder Josh "Skreech" Sandoval. He's a character and the film follows his many ups and downs dealing with young parenthood, competing, and relationships. However, rather then try and make some type of statement about him, it just presents him objectively in the way that he is through wonderful cinematography.
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| 2 New Zines by Pacolli & Mildred
Got two new zines from Mildred and Pacolli for us to share with you. Pacolli's The Last Chance Kids is published through Volcom's Artist Series and is 40 pages and sells for only $7 printed on thick quality heavy stock.
 |
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| Logan Crable's Blow Jobs
Logan Crable emailed us the other day with an offer to view his Blow Job series. Normally we don't get offers to view someone's porn project, but we quickly learned that the blowing is more in the literal sense as opposed to the pleasuring form.
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| Michelle Ramin & SFAI Grad Show
Thanks to Michelle Ramin for emailing us some her recent paintings. Michelle will be displaying her work as part of SFAI's MFA graduate show running this weekend and opening Friday, May 11th at the Pheonix Hotel here in San Francisco.
 |
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| Interview with Jeff Depner
Whether conceptually motivated or intuitively created, the process of painting has been a main attribute in art for sometime now. Controlling the surface of a canvas is at the root of most contemporary painting. Vancouver native Jeff Depner's work creates avenues for visual discovery through a process based aesthetic. Layers upon layers of paint each relating to the next. Masking some, if not all, of the past creates a visual history within. The work ebbs and flows between graphic qualities and thick painterly styles with muted but contemporary feeling colors. The constant process of 'improvised moves' allows some of the work to be based in grid like structures. It allows some of the smaller paintings a chance for inquiry in constructive qualities and aspects of painting, inserting his work into the long history of painting.
 |
|
| If Bill Murray was a Triple Bacon Cheeseburger
Bay Area artist Cahill Wessel emailed over a couple gems- food/human hybrids with wonderful titles. Made our morning.
 |
|
| Michael Miller @Fifty24SF
On the way home from Fecal Face a couple Fridays back we swung through Fifty24SF to catch the two day show with the LA based hip-hop photographer Michael Miller in celebration of his new book. West coast hip-hop iconic early 1990's hip-hop photographs, including numerous photos of 2pac, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Snoop Dogg, Warren G... the bonus: Eazy-E touting a skateboard and a gun?!
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| Marissa Textor - Mini Interview
Marissa Textor and Ryan Travis Christian are currently showing together at Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto. Gerald interviews the LA based Marissa Textor. Check out her detailed graphite drawings.
 |
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| Richmond Virginia Street Art Festival 2012
A couple weeks back Jeff Soto flew out to Richmond, VA for their street art festival to do some mural action. Artists included the likes of Hense, Richard Colman, Dalek, Hamilton Glass, and many more.
 |
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| Dave Kinsey @FFDG, May 18th
Mark your calendar: Dave Kinsey opens Lost For Words @FFDG in San Francisco on Friday, May 18th (6-9pm).
New mixed media paintings and installation. This will be his first show in San Francisco in 12 years and his first on the West Coast since 2007... We're very excited. Below is a lil' taste of what's to come.
 |
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| ROA at Stolen Space, London
Massive show from this prolific Belgium based sreet artist.
 |
|
| Hamishi in Melbourne
Hamishi emailed over some photos from his current show Nothing Special running at Melbourne's Paradise Hills through this Saturday, May 5th. If you're in Melbourne, view it in person as we're sure it looks even better in person.
Hamishi participated in last November's group show 11.11.11 @FFDG back in November with Mario Martinez showing a solo show... Man, that's was a nutty opening before the cops showed up.
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| Opening Pics @FFDG for C.P.H.
Alex Uhrich & Gerald Anekwe got some photos from the recent group show at FFDG, Cigarettes, Phone Cards & Hip Hop Clothing.
 |
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| Spoke Art Thursday
Spoke Art here in SF opens the group show Synergy curated by LA's Thinkspace this Thursday, May 3rd (6-10pm) featuring works by a slew of artists that Thinkspace works with. Spoke Art sent us a taste for you to sample.
 |
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| Ludo's Palynology
Ludo who we've featured many times emailed over a recent piece from Katowice in Poland called "Palynology".
 |
|
| Murals by Flavio Samelo (Brazil)
We had the pleasure of meeting Flavio Samelo when we were in Sao Paulo last summer (blog). He's a skateboarder/ photographer and talented artist. Here are some photos from some of his recent mural done in Rio de Janeiro, also in his words.
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New Fish Print
Tuesday, 22 May 2012, 10:12am
Our buddy Jeremy Fish has a brand new print The Golden Hills out through Upper Playground. The print is made in an edition of 100, signed and numbered by the artist, and printed at the fantastic Bloom Press in Oakland, California. 18" x 24" $100
This drawing was inspired by that looming feeling that San Francisco is an isolated island from the rest of the country. As SF becomes more and more expensive, and the lower income creative folks that make this city pulse get squeezed off the island, "the city that knows how" will slowly transform into a sterile west coast Manhattan full of tech chads and internet gurus. —Jeremy Fish
To All The Graduates
Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 11:23am
Congrats to some of our friends who've just graduated from SFAI this past weekend. Henry Gunderson (below), Alex Ziv, Quinn Arneson and our intern Alex Uhrich among many more not only at SFAI but those at CCA and other schools across the country. May you all work hard and prosper in your future arting endeavors.
Henry Gunderson all grown up, college graduated and bow-tied.
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Wednesday, 25 April 2012, 11:56am
Marc Jacobs vs. The Graffiti Artist
Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 1:40pm
Marc Jacobs vs. The Graffiti Artist, Round 2: When Jacobs Turns Vandalized Store Into $680 Shirt <-- Earlier this week, on the night of the Met Ball, the Marc Jacobs boutique in SoHo was hit by French graffiti artist Kidult, who has famously vandalized Supreme, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton, among others. The hit? Kidult took a fire extinguisher filled with pink paint, and sprayed the word ART over the front of the store (seen below). ~continue reading
Dave Kinsey @FFDG 5/18
Wednesday, 09 May 2012, 1:00pm
Thanks to Arrested Motion who posted some info on Dave Kinsey's solo show Lost For Words which opens at FFDG in San Francisco on Friday, May 18th (6-9pm). This will be his first show in San Francisco in 12 years. RSVP.
Founder of BLK/MRKT w/ Shepard Fairey in '97 (becoming sole owner in '03), lengedary street artist with his Unlearn campaign, and highly accomplished painter, it's with great honor that we welcome him back to San Francisco. New paintings, mixed media and installation, it should be one of our best shows to date and a lot of fun. -Complete Show Details
Dave Kinsey opens Lost For Words at FFDG on Fri, May 18th.
Asian Art Museum Tonight, Thurs
Thursday, 17 May 2012, 10:51am
The Asian Art Museum opens their grand first contemporary show PHANTOMS OF ASIA with a massive preview party this evening with DJs, food, and other goodies 7:30pm - midnight ~details
We went to the press preview yesterday and should have some photos to share, but time constraints due to preparations for our show w/ Dave Kinsey opening Friday and the lack of a mayor Ed Lee which all were waiting for... Well, we had to bail before they let us preview the show... What we've seen online looks great and tonight should be a blast. See you there.
Some of the artists participating in PHANTOMS OF ASIA under Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa's 24-foot-tall "Breathing Flower" in the Civic Center.
Phantoms of Asia Opening Thurs, 17th
Friday, 11 May 2012, 1:29pm
The Asian Art Museum here in San Francisco opens its first large-scale contemporary art exhibition Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past with a big old preview party on Thursday, May 17th complete w/ DJs VIN SOL and KING MOST. ~details
Curated by Mami Kataoka, chief curator of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, in collaboration with Allison Harding, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Asian Art Museum, Phantoms of Asia features artworks by contemporary artists hailing from Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Tibet, and the U.S. Going to be a great show.
Installation by Choi Jeong Hwa
The Slingluff Gallery
Thursday, 10 May 2012, 10:06am
Thanks to the Slingluff Gallery in Phildelphia for helping to support Fecal Face by buying a lil' ad which you can view by scrolling down here in the news section. Those lil' guys will only set you back $50 for the month as our special rates continue for the month of May. Get yours.
Print by Ralph Stollenwerk from the LOST TREASURES collection. $21
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+SF
| :: Sketch Tuesdays @ 111 Minna Gallery - Tue | | :: Susan Freinkel - Eternal Plastic: A Tox.. - Tue | | :: Visioning the Invisible in Augmented Re.. - Wed | | :: "So you think you can Paint?" - Thu | | :: RAW SF: The Blend with B.LEWIS, THE SPI.. - Thu | | :: Nothing Is Ever Finished - Thu | | :: 'Yi, dos, drei, four' - Fri | | :: SFFS Presents: 'Once Upon a Time in Ana.. - Fri | | :: Friday Nights at SF Decorator Showcase .. - Fri | | :: "Graphical Inspirations" Art Opening - Fri | | :: Opening Reception for 'Yi, dos, drei, f.. - Fri | | :: “Between the Lines” a solo exhibition b.. - Fri | | :: “YI, DOS, DREI, FOUR” - Fri | | :: “YI, DOS, DREI, FOUR” - Fri |
+NYC
+LA
FULL CALENDARS: BAY AREA | NYC | LA
| 
-as of 10am
| Dave Kinsey @FFDG
Last Friday we were pleased to open up Dave Kinsey's first solo show in San Francisco since before 2000 when Dave was doing a lot of work in streets with his then work partner Shepard Fairey. A lot of the smaller works are homage to that era, i.e., the titles are San Francisco street names. Love his new direction.
|
|
| STREETOPIA @The Luggage Store
After our Dave Kinsey opening last Friday, we made our way down Market Street for Luggage Store's opening of STREETOPIA. Ran into a lot of friends and was amazed at how transformed the gallery was. Multiple rooms built out to include a Free Cafe, a theater, a gallery/studio, and a library. Streetopia will host free performances, teachings, and talks in the city every day for the show's month-long run and, thus, will provide a temporary space that offers opportunities for participation, agency, critical thinking, learning, sharing of ideas, and tools for community building that will reverberate in the real city after the city we build in the gallery is long gone.
|
|
| Matt Moore in Paris
From Matt Moore: A new series of (entirely spraypaint) canvas painting created during a 1-month residency in Paris. A true evolution from the purely geometric abstractions I have explored in my past few exhibitions : Sun Ray Ricochet (Moscow 2011) + XYZ Axis (Cincinnati 2011) + Crystals & Lasers (Paris 2010) + Parallel Universe (Sao Paulo 2009) + 20/20 (Barcelona 2008). An exciting new chapter.
|
|
| Barry McGee at Prism LA
Doug Neill emailed over a few photos from Barry McGee's opening last Friday at Prism in Los Angeles.
|
|
| Further Collective Flagstaff Mural
The Further Collective: Mario Martinez (Mars-1), Damon Soule & Oliver Vernon were in Flagstaff last week collaborating on an outdoor mural at The Flagstaff Brewing Company located in the historical district of downtown Flagstaff, AZ.
|
|
| INTERVIEW with Tristan Patterson
Director of the documentary film DRAGONSLAYER --> DRAGONSLAYER is a documentary about the skateboarder Josh "Skreech" Sandoval. He's a character and the film follows his many ups and downs dealing with young parenthood, competing, and relationships. However, rather then try and make some type of statement about him, it just presents him objectively in the way that he is through wonderful cinematography.
|
|
| 2 New Zines by Pacolli & Mildred
Got two new zines from Mildred and Pacolli for us to share with you. Pacolli's The Last Chance Kids is published through Volcom's Artist Series and is 40 pages and sells for only $7 printed on thick quality heavy stock.
|
|
| Logan Crable's Blow Jobs
Logan Crable emailed us the other day with an offer to view his Blow Job series. Normally we don't get offers to view someone's porn project, but we quickly learned that the blowing is more in the literal sense as opposed to the pleasuring form.
|
|
| Michelle Ramin & SFAI Grad Show
Thanks to Michelle Ramin for emailing us some her recent paintings. Michelle will be displaying her work as part of SFAI's MFA graduate show running this weekend and opening Friday, May 11th at the Pheonix Hotel here in San Francisco.
|
|
| Interview with Jeff Depner
Whether conceptually motivated or intuitively created, the process of painting has been a main attribute in art for sometime now. Controlling the surface of a canvas is at the root of most contemporary painting. Vancouver native Jeff Depner's work creates avenues for visual discovery through a process based aesthetic. Layers upon layers of paint each relating to the next. Masking some, if not all, of the past creates a visual history within. The work ebbs and flows between graphic qualities and thick painterly styles with muted but contemporary feeling colors. The constant process of 'improvised moves' allows some of the work to be based in grid like structures. It allows some of the smaller paintings a chance for inquiry in constructive qualities and aspects of painting, inserting his work into the long history of painting.
|
|
| If Bill Murray was a Triple Bacon Cheeseburger
Bay Area artist Cahill Wessel emailed over a couple gems- food/human hybrids with wonderful titles. Made our morning.
|
|
| Michael Miller @Fifty24SF
On the way home from Fecal Face a couple Fridays back we swung through Fifty24SF to catch the two day show with the LA based hip-hop photographer Michael Miller in celebration of his new book. West coast hip-hop iconic early 1990's hip-hop photographs, including numerous photos of 2pac, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Snoop Dogg, Warren G... the bonus: Eazy-E touting a skateboard and a gun?!
|
|
| Marissa Textor - Mini Interview
Marissa Textor and Ryan Travis Christian are currently showing together at Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto. Gerald interviews the LA based Marissa Textor. Check out her detailed graphite drawings.
|
|
| Richmond Virginia Street Art Festival 2012
A couple weeks back Jeff Soto flew out to Richmond, VA for their street art festival to do some mural action. Artists included the likes of Hense, Richard Colman, Dalek, Hamilton Glass, and many more.
|
|
| Dave Kinsey @FFDG, May 18th
Mark your calendar: Dave Kinsey opens Lost For Words @FFDG in San Francisco on Friday, May 18th (6-9pm).
New mixed media paintings and installation. This will be his first show in San Francisco in 12 years and his first on the West Coast since 2007... We're very excited. Below is a lil' taste of what's to come.
|
|
| ROA at Stolen Space, London
Massive show from this prolific Belgium based sreet artist.
|
|
| Hamishi in Melbourne
Hamishi emailed over some photos from his current show Nothing Special running at Melbourne's Paradise Hills through this Saturday, May 5th. If you're in Melbourne, view it in person as we're sure it looks even better in person.
Hamishi participated in last November's group show 11.11.11 @FFDG back in November with Mario Martinez showing a solo show... Man, that's was a nutty opening before the cops showed up.
|
|
| Opening Pics @FFDG for C.P.H.
Alex Uhrich & Gerald Anekwe got some photos from the recent group show at FFDG, Cigarettes, Phone Cards & Hip Hop Clothing.
|
|
| Spoke Art Thursday
Spoke Art here in SF opens the group show Synergy curated by LA's Thinkspace this Thursday, May 3rd (6-10pm) featuring works by a slew of artists that Thinkspace works with. Spoke Art sent us a taste for you to sample.
|
|
| Ludo's Palynology
Ludo who we've featured many times emailed over a recent piece from Katowice in Poland called "Palynology".
|
|
| Murals by Flavio Samelo (Brazil)
We had the pleasure of meeting Flavio Samelo when we were in Sao Paulo last summer (blog). He's a skateboarder/ photographer and talented artist. Here are some photos from some of his recent mural done in Rio de Janeiro, also in his words.
|
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