Tattoo Beach: The quiet persistence of an artist opens Hermosa to the brave new world of tattoo parlors
Johnny Anderson adds a flower to the dragon-tattooed arm of Raymond De La Vega, 32, of Redondo Beach, in the Hermosa Tattoo Company on the Pier Plaza. Photo
Artist Johnny Anderson opened his landmark tattoo parlor just before the dawning of the year, but it was in 2011 that he became the Johnny Appleseed of tattoos, watching as three more parlors followed the road that he had paved.
The shops opened after Anderson, 32, spent three years in the court system overturning a citywide ban on tattoo parlors. He was a low-key and cheerful tattoo activist, pleasantly but persistently pursuing what he believed to be a constitutional right.
The city defended its position all the way to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, which ruled that the tattoo parlor ban violated Anderson’s right of expression, giving the act of tattooing the same level of First Amendment protection enjoyed by newspaper publishers.
The council, fresh from rejection by a conservative three-judge panel, bowed to the courts. The City Council adopted an ordinance allowing tattoo shops in commercial areas as long as they stand at least 1,000 feet apart on the Pier Plaza or parts of Hermosa Avenue, or 1,500 feet apart on Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation Boulevard.
Tattoo artists nationwide dashed into their City Halls with copies of the court ruling in their hands, and in the fertile ground of Hermosa, three more tattoo parlors opened up in 2011.
When 3rd Street Tattoo opened on PCH with a live punk rock band, Jeff Thielman, already an established area artist, was quick to thank Anderson.
“He definitely led the parade,” Thielman said.
Josh Kimbrell, Jeremy Hartland, Jeff Thielman and Fletcher Dragge reflect upon their 3rd Street Tattoo parlor. Photo
In addition to Thielman, 3rd Street features established artist Josh Kimbrell, and Fletcher Dragge of the iconic Hermosa band Pennywise, whose body bears some of his own inking, and who described himself as “an aspiring tattoo artist.”
Anderson, a respected area artist long before coming to town, was quietly working away at his busy Hermosa Tattoo Company in an upstairs corner of the Loreto Plaza – a little western inlet area of the larger Pier Plaza.
“A lot of locals have come by, doing the well-wishing thing,” said Anderson as he added a flower to the dragon-tattooed arm of a 32-year-old Redondo man.
Rockabilly played quietly behind him as the chrome colored tattoo machine in his right hand emitted a buzzing, dentist-drill drone. On a shiny red shelf above his station stood statuettes of a Tiki figure, the hotrod character Rat Fink and family pictures, all beneath a contemplative portrait of Jesus.
Anderson, who is nicknamed Johnny 2/3 for the mixture of black into colors that marks his work, spoke of the emails he’s gotten from tattoo artists far and wide who are using his court ruling to open shops.
“The lawsuit was like a game changer in that,” he said.
But the game wasn’t over in Hermosa. Hany Fangary, who lives near a tattoo parlor that has since opened at Hermosa Avenue and Eighth Street, joined other residents in a lawsuit calling for stricter regulation of the shops, including earlier closing times.
Gene Smith, a partner in the Hermosa Avenue shop with Shane McColgan, pledged to launch a “first class establishment.”
- A customer sports a Japanese mask by tattoo artist Jeff Thielman.
Unlike most tattoo advocates his body is un-inked. He said he became interested in opening a parlor because of the system of providing space for the artists like a hair salon does for stylists.
“It’s a great business model,” he said.
Fangary also ran for a City Council seat in 2011, and polled more than respectably, but failed to oust an incumbent.
During the council campaign, successful incumbent candidate Michael DiVirgilio said there had been no significant issues with the parlors, except for the grand opening punk rock show at 3rd Street, which was thrown without a permit.
Candidate Steve Powers, who also polled strong, said the parlor near Fangary’s home was opened after an expensive remodel of its building and is “nothing to be ashamed of.”
Successful incumbent candidate Peter Tucker said he checked with the police chief and found that the city’s tattoo parlors have not caused problems.
Just days before the election, a Superior Court judge dismissed the bulk of the lawsuit, ruling that it was filed too late to meet legal deadlines.