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Tattoo Nation

Tattoos used to be a sign of rebellion. A middle finger salute to the rest of the world. Outlaw bikers got tattoos. Sailors on leave in Singapore got tattoos. Lifers in the joint got tattoos. Now, your mother's got a butterfly on her ankle and your kid's sporting a tramp stamp. What happened? When did tattoos go from the renegade, ready-made, carney cartoons inked as fast as possible to the art form they've become today? That transformation is the subject of the new documentary film, TATTOO NATION. TATTOO NATION tells how a few incarcerated but very talented Chicano artists changed the world of ink forever. It follows three tattoo pioneers, Charlie Cartwright, Jack Rudy and Freddy Negrete, and shows how a new, fine line style using detail and shading to achieve a remarkable realism revolutionized the world of ink. In 1975, Cartwright and Rudy boldly opened the first tattoo parlor in the heart of East LA's Chicano community...