Ed Hardy Gets the Spotlight at the de Young Museum

Ed Hardy Gets the Spotlight at the de Young Museum

September 24, 2019 by

Jenn Thornton Jenn Thornton

Not that he needs more ink, but Ed Hardy is the subject of a new exhibit at the de Young museum. Ed Hardy: Deeper Than Skin goes beneath the surface of the trailblazer’s efforts to take the tattoo from cultural outlier to high-art form. “From the very beginning, Ed Hardy has been on the leading edge of tattoo innovation,” says Karin Breuer, curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. He was the first American tattooist to live and work in Japan, she notes, and in developing his repertoire, Hardy expanded the international tattoo aesthetic. And he was the first to set up an appointment-only tattoo practice in San Francisco, where he created the now commonplace custom tattoo. Now, Hardy, who cast off a Yale fellowship for 40 years in the tattoo trade, marks his first museum retrospective. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco













Ed Hardy Gets the Spotlight at the de Young Museum

September 24, 2019 by Jenn Thornton

Not that he needs more ink, but Ed Hardy is the subject of a new exhibit at the de Young museum. Ed Hardy: Deeper Than Skin goes beneath the surface of the trailblazer’s efforts to take the tattoo from cultural outlier to high-art form. “From the very beginning, Ed Hardy has been on the leading edge of tattoo innovation,” says Karin Breuer, curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. He was the first American tattooist to live and work in Japan, she notes, and in developing his repertoire, Hardy expanded the international tattoo aesthetic. And he was the first to set up an appointment-only tattoo practice in San Francisco, where he created the now commonplace custom tattoo. Now, Hardy, who cast off a Yale fellowship for 40 years in the tattoo trade, marks his first museum retrospective. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco