He was once described as the ‘Dark Prince’ of ink. Paul Booth Tattoos are known for their black and gray color and have been defined as dark surrealism.
Booth, his tattoo design, art, and insights into creative ideas have developed a huge following, not just in New York where he lives and works, but across the US and worldwide.
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Read on for insight into Paul Booth surrealism tattoos, Dark Rites Tattoo Theatre, his NYC art gallery, and darker tattoo inspiration.
Early Career and Paul Booth’s Last Rites Tattoo Theatre
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Booth’s first tattoo was of his daughter Tabitha’s name, which started his interest in tattoo art. He told leading tattoo magazine Prick in 2009, that “sitting there watching the needle pierce my skin, I was totally intrigued by the art form. I did my first tattoo in November of ’88. I haven’t stopped since.”
His biggest influences as a younger artist were Swiss surrealist HR Giger, Tattoo Artist East Coast Al, Bob Roberts and the legendary underground artist and tattooist Greg Irons. Irons, who died in Thailand in 1984 after being hit by a bus, had an indelible impact on Booth’s art, both for its skill and Irons’ range of mediums. Chances are you don’t know Irons, but you know his amazing flash art, as it hangs in just about every tattoo shop in the US.
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“I remember the first Greg Irons piece I ever saw,” Booth told Prick. “It was this dragon tattoo sleeve with this dragon cruising in and out of layers of water; the dimension was incredible. That was when I realized I could really approach this as an art form.”
As was the case with most of the older generation of artists, after joining the tattoo industry Booth first served an apprenticeship before beginning to specialize in dark art, horror and surrealism tattoos. He also travelled extensively across the US and Europe for half the year at a time, building his portfolio and honing his craft.
In 1998 Booth opened his Last Rites Tattoo Theatre, first in New Jersey before moving right into New York City, where he still operates today. His renown as an awesome tattoo artist is such that it can take more than two years waiting to get a Paul Booth tattoo.
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Tattoo Style: Paul Booth Surrealism Tattoos
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Booth is revered within the tattoo scene he’s spent 30+ years being a part of as tattooist and artist. By all accounts a friendly guy with a sharp sense of humor, Booth is considered a master of dark art, horror, realist and biomechanical tattoos, featuring countless times in all manner of tattoo magazine.
As his website proudly explains: “Last Rites Tattoo Theatre and Paul Booth have been heralding the dark surrealism movement in Tattoo Art for decades. With skin as their canvas, Paul hand picks the best talent from around the world to present within the infamous walls of The Last Rites Tattoo Theatre.”
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Biomechanical tattoos often combine metal rods, motors and gears with elements of the human anatomy – each idea is a melding of machine and animal. Booth can also tattoo a wicked skull, dragon, or demon without breaking a sweat. His tattoo work is so strikingly memorable the term dark surrealism is often used as the best way to describe it.
“It sounds rather macabre, and it is.” Booth told Global Newsweek in 2014. “It’s the optical illusion I enjoy.”
“Most of my inspiration comes from the world around me,” Booth told the Toronto Star in interviewer back in 2003. “I’ll see something horrible in the world and it’ll affect me deeply enough to want to express it in my own way.
“It’s almost like a venting process – facing your fears … It’s taking the creepiness in and expelling the creepiness out. An exorcism, almost.”
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Booth’s tattoo style is freehand and he almost exclusively creates black and grey tattoo. His status is such that he has complete control over the art he creates for each subject, developing the inspiration and theme along with the customer as he goes.
In the Global Newsweek piece, he talked about creating a tattoo sleeve for a woman who’d had shock therapy when she was younger. “Things like this serve people as an outlet or a venting process, as opposed to being stuck with their trauma, which sounds counterintuitive to most people,” he said in the story.
“Whenever she looks at her arm she can look back at it as a historic time in her life, a time that’s over.”
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Celebrity Tattoos
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Rolling Stone Magazine called Booth the “New King of Rock Tattoos.” He’s tagged some of the biggest bands in hard rock and heavy metal – including members of Slayer, Pantera, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Cradle of Filth, and Mudvayne. Booth has even travelled with some of the bands on tour.
Booth tattooed legendary WWE wrestler the Undertaker with his signature bicep tattoo. He told the Toronto Star that the Undertaker, a huge man nearly 7 feet tall, “had to duck and turn sideways to come into the room … His bicep was like doing a back piece.”
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Last Rites Gallery
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In 2008 Booth opened the Last Rites Gallery, a place where fine art can complement his tattoo studio. According to its website, “Last Rites is the premier gallery for contemporary surrealism, working with both established career artists and fostering emerging surrealists.
Just as in his tattoo studio, Booth gathers contemporary artists with an interest in exploring dark, horror, and biomechanical themes to be part of the collection or be involved in exhibitions at the gallery.
Booth also operates in other creative mediums such as sculpting, filmmaking and music – he’s a huge fan of heavy metal – alongside his staples of painting and tattooing, describing himself on his Instagram page as a dark surrealist in multiple disciplines.
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Paul Booth in Wider Art
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In 2000, Booth co-founded an international charitable art organization called Art Fusion Experiment (AFE). “The ArtFusion Experiment came into being from two specific areas in my head,” Booth said.
“One, I’d spent a lot of time tattooing alone and felt a certain stagnation or tunnel vision, if you will. To create a forum where artists could create together on a level playing field I felt would be a very special experience for people like me. There is a lot to be learned from your peers. And two, I saw an opportunity to force feed the public tattoo artists as true fine artists.”
The idea of AFE is a tattoo-centric art movement focused on collaboration in art concepts. Its aim is to strengthen the industry through contemporary tattoo artists working together to build on ideas and techniques.
In association with The International Child Arts Foundation, AFE is devoted to bringing art to underprivileged children from around the world. As a result of AFE, in 2005 Booth was the first tattoo artist to receive the honor of induction into the National Arts Club.
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Paul Booth Tattoo FAQ
Image: William Choo CC BY SA-2.0
Is Paul Booth Still Tattooing?
Paul Booth usually operates out of Last Rites Tattoo Theatre in New York City, but has recently announced he won’t be tattooing in New York again until 2021.
The Last Rites Tattoo Theatre and Last Rites Gallery will also be closed in the short term due to Covid 19.
How Much Does Paul Booth Charge?
Wait times for an appointment for one of Booth’s signature dark surrealism pieces can be as long as two years.
Various internet reports suggest that a session with Booth starts at $300USD per hour, and that he’s one of the top ten most expensive artists in the US.
Do you like dark art tattoos and biomechanical pieces? Click on the links below to check out our galleries: