Getting 'inked' the kosher way

By Lauren Matthew

June 20, 2008

Tattoos might be taboo for Jews, but that doesn't mean the art that goes with getting inked must be.

Jeremy Parker and his cousin, Ben Parker, created their own line of tattoo design tees that will be hitting stores in July. According to Jeremy, the reason for this was a lifelong fascination with tattoos and the understanding that, as a Modern Orthodox Jew, he could not get one of his own.

"I always loved tattoo artwork," Jeremy said.

For the last eight months, the cousins have been working on the T-shirt line, which they call Tees and Tats. The designs will premier at a launch event June 26.

Jeremy, who grew up in Englewood and graduated from college last year, said he wanted to do something different that would utilize his business skills. Parlaying those skills into the design world meant focusing the project and refining what Jeremy called something that's "big now" into something that would be unique and wearable.

Tees and Tats shirts are different, Jeremy said, in that they are limited editions. Each one is numbered and signed, and there are currently seven designs that are part of limited runs of 700 shirts. Shirt designs, he noted, are primarily on the back of the garment, "like a full back-piece tattoo," Jeremy said.

The T-shirts are done in a Japanese tattoo style and are the work of Marco Serio, who, Jeremy explained, is a well-respected tattoo artist.

Serio, who is Portuguese, moved to New York seven years ago and works out of the Invisible NYC Art Gallery on Orchard Street in Manhattan. His shirt designs were made to move and flow around the body like a tattoo would.

"Marco is a serious artist and these exclusive designs were inspired by the original Japanese Samurai tattoos of the early 1800s," Jeremy said. "The shirts are meant to be worn as a canvas and expression of an individual's personality."

Working closely with family hasn't been a problem, he continued.

"We're best friends," Jeremy said.

Shirts will be priced at around $100 with the idea that each shirt is a work of art. But for every shirt sold in the debut collection, the company will donate a percentage of proceeds to the non-profit ArtWorks organization based in Englewood. ArtWorks provides children and young adults suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses access to creative and performing arts programming which encourages the use of the creative process as a vehicle for healing, communication, self-expression, and personal development. Siblings of patients also have access to the programming.

Goals for the future of the Lower East Side-based line include bringing on more tattoo artists, each with a different specialty in a different style of tattoo art, and expanding to include items like hoodies and hats, which will all keep the limited edition runs and numbering. Jeremy said the hope is to bring on four or five new designers for next year.

For more information or to contact the company, visit www.teesandtats.com. To learn more about ArtWorks, visit http://www.artworksfoundation.org/.