We interviewed Yone, an Israeli artist (active between Montreal and New York) who, in his vision of sex, invites us to look at his works beyond all prejudices.
Would you like to tell me something about yourself?
My name is Yone. I’ve been tattooing for about 12 years now. I have been drawing my entire life, my pops was very supportive and always had art supplies available for us as kids. I grew up in Israel and later finished high school in Santa Fe, before moving to New York.
What triggered this passion for Traditional style in your head?
When I was around 10 years old my mom took me to a tattoo shop to pick up her friend who was getting a Tribal tattoo on the back of their neck, this must have been around 97-98.
The shop was located in Eilat, Israel. It was covered in pictures of tattoos and piercings and I became obsessed.
I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I knew I wanted to tattoo for a living right there and then. I started tattooing in New York around 2010, working in the walk-in shops on 6th Avenue.
What happened later?
I always was drawn to the classics we all know and love but it wasn’t until I helped my friends Stevie Wells (IG: @crazySteviewells) and Mikey Chestnuts (IG: @mikeychestnuts) open ‘Grandview Tattoo’ in Ridgewood, Queens. ‘Grandview Tattoo’ is a sister shop to the legendary neighborhood shop, ‘R&D Tattoo’ on Myrtle Avenue, always in Queens. Coming from the New York heritage passed down by Tony Polite and Rob Freund.
Do you want to say thanks to someone else?
My friends Dave Mowers and Rich Fie are the two who really taught me the magic of tattooing and my friend Stevie Wells is the one who encouraged me to express my individuality in that classic New York look.
So here I am now tattooing latex and bondage pin-ups on bold people.
In this interview I would rather focus on your drawings and flashes. Does what you create always have the ultimate goal of becoming a tattoo or does paper have the same value to you as human skin?
To me, painting is the ultimate. I often joke about how tattoos have an expiration date and archival watercolor paper will absolutely outlive any tattoo I make. My clients don’t seem to enjoy that joke as much as I do. Hopefully some tattoo enthusiast will find my flash hundreds of years from now and try and collect whatever survived.
Can you recommend a couple of flash books that have been very helpful in your artistic training? Or any of your artists whose work you have always appreciated?
Aside from the classics we all know, I really am drawn to Stoney st. Clair and Herbert Hoffman for Traditional inspiration. All my fetish, BDSM and bold inspiration comes from the great erotic and pulp illustrators from the 1920s-1970s. Gene Bilbrew, Eric Stanton and John willie are the most notable ones.
How important is sex or your idea of sex as a driving force in your art?
I think that sex is a natural part of human life, I think it’s important to find compassion in others. I grew up in a very open minded and progressive home. I was never shamed for who I was but I still had to overcome a deep cultural shame in my sexuality.
I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of “normalizing” things because it takes away from the counter-culture and at the same time I feel like we should definitely take another look at sexuality as whole within humanity and stop shaming others. I think that’s really where I try and fit in with my art. It’s not overtly pornographic,
I try and create images that will make you blush but at the same time admire the quality of work without feeling ashamed.
What do you usually look for in the women you draw?
I like to be inclusive with my work, I consider myself a queer artist. I welcome all shapes and sizes. I find abstract feminine shapes to be very aesthetically pleasing. Especially when combined with the textures of latex and leather. I like crossing the cis-gender borders by gender mashing my designs. I often enjoy placing masculine figures in feminine positions and lingerie. It’s my way of finding empathy in the pain and struggle that women have endured throughout history.
So do you think it is wrong to call them just pin-ups?
I think calling these designs pin-ups is chill. I don’t think that a pin-up has to be gender related and anyone and everyone could potentially be a pin-up.
And your last famous words are…?
Breakfast burrito, green Chile, veggie sausage, homefries and extra Chile on the side and a coffee, Black, please.
