Brooklynite of the Week: Adam Suerte

Photo by Wendy Hope

Brooklyn native Adam Suerte is a painter, an illustrator, a graphic novelist, co-owner of Brooklyn Tattoo (located at 99 Atlantic Avenue), and the artist behind the awesome Brooklyn Bridge ink that we posted a while back. We spoke with him about body art and borough pride — two topics that are intimately linked for him.

Do you get a lot of requests for borough-related tattoos?

I get many requests for tattoos with Brooklyn themes. I have done the clocktower over a dozen times, the Brooklyn Bridge is a constant theme in my work. I have thrown the Brooklyn House of Detention into many a background. I am working on a sleeve for a carpenter from Bay Ridge where it shows the Verrazzano Bridge, and under that is the R train coming off the Manhattan Bridge, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the reflection of the train window… very distorted, but we got it all in there.

Another sleeve from a local that starts out on his wrist with Coney Island, and goes up through different Brooklyn landmarks ending up at Fort Green park on his upper arm, and I have done countless words and phrases relating to Brooklyn, and parts therein.

Theres a huge sense of Brooklyn pride, even with people who weren’t born here but now consider it home. They always ask me if that’s “uncool” — I am not one of those locals that think it’s stupid to be prideful of where you live, even if you haven’t grown up here. Many of my Brooklyn-themed tattoos are on people who were not born here.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn?

I was born at Brooklyn Downstate Hospital, December 18 ,1969, raised in Cobble Hill, and have lived here on and off for 37 years, mostly on.

What neighborhood do you live in?

Cobble Hill for the most part, I lived in Bushwick for a few years, when I first got back from college in the early ’90s. Bushwick was hardcore in ’91.

When did you open Brooklyn Tattoo?

I apprenticed at a tattoo shop called All Souls in upper Manhattan in the late 90s. The owner, who lived in Carroll Gardens, moved the shop to State Street in Boreum Hill when they lost their lease to Barnes and Noble in 2000. He then moved to England in 2002. My current partner and I bought the shop from him, renamed it Brooklyn Tattoo, stayed on State for a few years, and moved the shop to its current location on Atlantic Ave just about a year ago.

How many tattoos do you have?

Well, I stopped counting awhile ago, they all start to blend into one big work-in-progress. Let’s say I have more than ten, less than 20. Notable ones include the words “County of Kings” in Olde English on my stomach, the Colt 45 horse on my leg, a couple Mayan-themed pieces, a demoness and angel whispering into each of my ears on each side of my collarbone, and a warpy view of a train station I tattooed on myself that says “South Brooklyn Blessed” (everyone says it resembles the Carroll Street Station but I drew it from my head).

Can you describe the strangest tattoo you’ve ever done?

That’s one of the most asked questions in this business. Most of the weirdest tattoos I have done deal more with placement, but I guess the strangest visual was a “reverse fertility symbol” based on a pendant a woman had bought from a Wicca store in Manhattan. It was a side view of a monkey with a huge human-like appendage.

What do you do when you aren’t working at Brooklyn Tattoo?

I have been tattooing for 8 years, but I studied illustration in school, and have been painting for as long as I remember. I love tattooing, but really just consider myself a painter with a cool day job.

Many of my themes deal with this ever-changing neighborhood. My work outside the tattoo shop, even though similarly themed, is quite a diversion from the style I tattoo in. When I got out of school, I started an artist collective called ‘Urban Folk Art© Studios.’ We are self-supporting, often curating group shows, and helping each other get a leg up in the underground art realm.

I am also in the middle of a graphic novel about my apprenticeship uptown. I am on the last book of four. I love underground comics and have been making them for awhile. I do some illustrating when it comes up. And I have a bunch of merchandise I produce including my own t-shirt line. I contribute to Artezn on Atlantic Avenue where the owner and I design Brooklyn-themed drinkware including a line of pint glasses with Brooklyn landmarks on them, flasks, drink shakers and such. I have also done signage and have had art shown in many local businesses in the neighborhood.

Any upcoming gallery shows or events at the shop that we should know about?

I am a member of BWAC down in Red Hook, and they are about to have their Spring Show, it’s a great venue for artists of all levels of dedication — a great way to get your feet wet if you haven’t shown work before, and a great way to find other venues to show work, owners of restaurants, and galleries check it out for new talent and whatnot. That starts may 12th and goes every weekend til mid June, I believe.

Also, Brooklyn Tattoo is about to mark our first year at the new space at 99 Atlantic Ave, we will be having some sort of open house the first week in May, its a small space, so it usually overflows into Magnetic Field (which is next door), then moves itself up to the Last Exit (I grew up with one of the partners from each of those bars — it’s one big incestuous family up there on Atlantic). I’ll be having a release party for the fourth comic somewhere in the neighborhood towards the end of the summer. I also usually show once a year at Last Exit, usually toward December. Anyone is welcome to get in touch for more info.

Adam Suerte [Homepage]