Knarly Gav Joins the Party!

Walking into Knarly Gav Studios, you’re hit with a tropical breeze and a wave of warmth. Not physical temperature warmth, especially on the snowy Sunday morning we went to visit, but the warmth of a man who makes art to create, spread, and feel love. Maybe it’s his childhood spent surfing in the Caribbean or his time living on  islands in the American South, but the sun shines in his work and is ever present in his energy. Gav works out of a small Brooklyn studio that doubles as his wife’s jewelry workshop, a fairly unassuming space that is decorated sparsely yet filled to the brim with joy. 

Gav started his career in his mid 30s in Savannah, GA. He attributes some of his near instant success to being a fully formed adult by the time he started, an advantage against his younger peers.. Now, 17 years later, his work has become serious Brooklyn iconography with his most recognizable design being the cat/watermelon. His work is always evolving, pulling inspiration from early American tattooers, further back than sailor Jerry, focusing on hand drawn images that look like tattoos, and look like modern art, and look like him. 

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Venue Ink is a tool that reaches across generational lines and styles of tattooing. No matter how much experience you have or don’t, all artists could stand to be a bit more organized. Enter: Knarly Gav. Not just a New York based artist, Gav travels the world tattooing and sharing his joy and up until now has done all his booking through DMs. Now, with Venue’s help, he’s booked out a full tattoo tour in shops across the country. 

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As his name suggests, Gav can be a bit gnarled around the edges but has such an inviting presence that you can’t help but feel welcomed by him and all his kooky energy. He is, without a doubt, the fun uncle you’ve always wanted. We sat down to discuss his start in the industry, how he has evolved, his BFA in trombone performance, a short performance on his autoharp, what inspires him and so much more. You can catch the full interview on YouTube but my biggest takeaway from the afternoon was love. Gav tattoos so people will love him, plain and simple. He believes love is at the root of tattooing as a culture and has dedicated his life to amplifying this message.