Obsession, drive, and demons. All three things can both fuel a person’s life or destroy it. Tattooist, artist, and writer Jonathan Shaw has experienced both the fuel and the fire several times over throughout his lifetime. And after getting sober, Shaw realized that if you come to learn how to deal with all three, you can also rebuild yourself as well. But this is only one small part of Shaw’s story which he brought to life in the pages of 2017’s Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist. Now directors/producers Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thome have brought Shaw’s story to the screen in a documentary of the same name.
Buy Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist bookBorn in New York, but raised in Los Angeles, Shaw is the son of big band leader Artie Shaw and actress Doris Dowling. Raised in what he refers to as the “American dream nightmare,” Shaw sought to escape his destructive home at an early age through writing and drawing comics. However while those dreams were continually foiled by his alcoholic mother, Shaw eventually fled L.A. for Mexico, and then eventually ended up in Rio de Janeiro where he began to learn how to tattoo.
After wanting to take his art to the next level, he returned to the states to learn under the masters of American Traditional tattooing and eventually opened up his own shop in New York during a time when tattooing was still illegal. While celebrity soon followed Shaw, his addictions and trauma got the best of him and he began to destroy all he had built. And that destruction would have taken his life if a friend had not stopped by the tattoo shop and literally brought him back to life.
In 2001, a newly sober Jonathan began to purge himself of all that was both living and rotting inside of him through his writing. He returned to the places he had first escaped to, began to heal, and find his true self. And it is with those learnings and healings that we find the narrator reflecting back on his life. Now at 71, Shaw is a prolific writer and artist living his life in Rio de Janeiro.
Scab Vendor is an artistic and fascinating journey through Shaw’s life. This doc is an engaging and enjoyable watch that serves as a wonderful visual companion to Shaw’s written account. The film mixes beautifully animated art with interviews of Shaw, his friends and family, along with archival footage and photographs from a long and storied life. Scab Vendor is tied together with a melody of dark, humorous, and poetic narration written and performed by Shaw himself. And while some very notable friends and clients show up in the doc, they don’t overshadow the subject of Jonathan Shaw, but add depth to this already rich and complex tale of his life.
Scab Vendor has a runtime of 127 minutes and will be available On Digital and On Demand beginning on July 30th.
