North County’s Oceanside Museum of Art provides perfect venue for ‘Exploding Tattoos’

Exploding Tattoos. It’s not a new thrash metal band. Neither is it something that can happen during a CAT scan if your skin is covered in body art. Exploding Tattoos is an innovative, creative collaboration between Anna Stump and Ted Meyer. Stump is an arts educator in San Diego, while Meyer works in the design field in Los Angeles. The duo shares a love for “painting the body in color, sensuality, and in movement.” This shared passion has developed into an ongoing adventure that has them traveling the world.

“(Exploding Tattoos) celebrate a vibrant, evolving culture in Southern California,” Stump told San Diego LGBT Weekly.

A recent Thursday evening exhibition of work presented by Exploding Tattoos brought curious art lovers of all ages and all walks of life to the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA). The human canvasses on display, all examples of the work of Stump and Meyer, filled the spaces with colors, shades, themes and designs of meticulous artistry and as well as simple shapes. Judging by both the large turnout and reactions from the crowds, Exploding Tattoos’ show in Oceanside was a hit. Part of the appeal of the show was its up-close-and-personal look at the ingenious explosions of creativity in action as Meyer and Stump lived up to the show’s title, Artists @ Work, by inking original designs during the show.

A little about the museum: If the very word “museum” conjures images of a sterile environment where you can look but not touch, then you haven’t been to Oceanside Museum of Art. You won’t find overeducated snobby tour guides delivering history lessons at a pace that would make Ben Stein say “spit it out already.” Come to this art space with interaction in mind. Also, come with an open mind to maximize the experience.

Mitzi Summers, manager of Programs and Events at OMA is a stylish redhead with her own canvass of tattoos exploding. Most notably, the explosion of inked body art emanates outward from the back of her shirt. Summers is further evidence that OMA is not a typical museum. The whole experience, from the space to the exhibits to staff members such as Mitzi Summers, may be best described as approachable or, pardon the cliché, accessible.

Summers, kicked off the night by introducing Stump and Meyers, who gave an unscripted discussion followed by an audience Q&A.

“I’ve never seen anyone paint a piece (on canvass) to use in combination with someone’s tattoos (on-skin),” said one attendee as she shot photos with her iPhone for posting on Facebook.

Stump and Meyer based an original sketch on a model named Jill Chall, who was chosen that evening. It was Chall’s tattoo work that attracted their attention. It turns out that a single theme tattoo art piece works best for their canvass-meets-skin creations.

Complementing the open air layout of the museum the nature of the exhibit had an ambience that I want to describe as “urban-twist.” Street art and lowrider cars in the neighboring exhibition contributed to an immersion in art that summer Thursday evening in North County.

“We see the California arts scene emerging as an equal to the New York scene,” said Summers. “Especially in L.A., trends include street art and lowbrow art, the merging of entertainment and high art, and the influence of the Pacific Rim.”

Meyer described Exploding Tattoos team-based technique for shows such as the OMA exhibit as he brushed paint onto the wall-hung piece of canvass.

“Anna does the big and loose work, rather than the small and tight,” he explained.

Stroke after stroke, what once stood tall as a vague less-than-appealing sketch began to transform into a beautiful colorful piece one would think was a continuation of the colorful tattoos on Chall’s body. Throughout the process, Chall stood in front of the unfinished project, providing the living impetus for the wall art. In the interest of full disclosure, Meyer snapped photos to use as a reference when painting, but only to carefully ensure the finished piece would indeed be a unique extension of the existing artwork on Chall’s body.

Within a few hours (and after countless reference photos as well as teamwork between Stump and Meyer) Chall stood proudly in front of the piece to complete the final image, creating what looked to the naked eye to be, you guessed it, an exploding tattoo.

For more information about upcoming exhibits at the Oceanside Museum of Art, visit oma-online.org. For additional exhibits and photos or works created by Exploding Tattoos as well as information about Anna Stump and Ted Meyer, visit facebook.com/explodingtattoo