The 5th and final episode of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age Series by Vice.
In the final part of Thom deVita’s Tattoo Age series we have to cover a lot of ground. So please sit back and prepare to go from the days before tattoo artists wore gloves while working to Thom’s current life as an artist. Enjoy.
Episode 4 of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age Series by Vice.
In the second to last installment of the Thom deVita episode (part 4 of 5), we explore the streets in which Thom lived and worked in NYC’s Lower East Side and East Village. We get deep into Thom’s aesthetic and discuss the convincing it took to talk someone into getting tattoos that are out of the norm – deVita style.
Episode 3 of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age Series by Vice.
In part three of Thom deVIta’s epic Tattoo Age series, we take look at his personal history and how he came into tattooing. We also hear from tattoo legend Angelo Scotto on the history of tattooing in New York City.
Nazareno Tubaro is a tattooer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Episode 2 of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age Series by Vice.
In the second part of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age series we focus on the touching and often hilarious relationship he has with Nick Bubash. Thom and Nick met in the early 1970s and soon after Thom started to tattoo Nick, he also started to teach him how to tattoo. Over the past 40 years their relationship has gone way beyond tattooing, or even art for that matter, but they still continue to create together.
Episode 1 of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age Series by Vice.
Tattoo Age is very proud to be featuring Thom deVita. Even though Thom has been tattooing and creating art for almost 50 years, there isn’t much information out there about him. He started tattooing in New York City’s Lower East Side in the mid 60s—when tattooing was illegal in the city—and quickly began to forge his own style.
Thom drew from a wide variety of infliuences for his tattoos, everything from Pueblo Indian designs to Lord and Taylor shopping bags. He also formed relationships with other American tattooers who were revolutionizing tattooing by bringing in influences that went far beyond the usual array of images found in most American tattoo parlors at the time.
We interviewed Ed Hardy, Nick Bubash, Clayton Patterson, Scott Harrison, Angelo Scotto, John Wyatt, Robert Ryan, and Bubba Reeves to help tell Thom’s incredible story. The second of five parts will air next Wednesday. Please enjoy.
Bonus Footage from the Valerie Vargas Tattoo Age Series featuring Lal Hardy.
When we filmed the Valerie Vargas Tattoo Age series, she took us to meet the legendary English tattooer Lal Hardy. Lal has been tattooing since 1975 and is generally considered to be one of the people who elevated tattooing in the UK in the 1980s. Lal is also an amazing storyteller, and he entertained us for quite some time at his shop, New Wave Tattoo Studio. We were so enamored with Lal’s stories that we kinda got off track and ended up talking more about English tattoo history than Ms. Vargas. Oh well. What you have here is just a snippet of our conversation with Lal that will hopefully turn into something bigger in the future. Enjoy.
Watch the other episodes here:
Tattoo Age: Valerie Vargas Part 1 (Video)
Tattoo Age: Valerie Vargas Part 2 (Video)
Tattoo Age: Valerie Vargas Part 3 (Video)
