Don Ed Hardy

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Don Ed Hardy
Ed Hardy at Track 16 Gallery, 2009
Born	January 1945 Iowa, United States
Nationality	American
Field	Painting, Drawing, Tattoo
Movement	Body art, Postmodern art

Don Ed Hardy is an American tattoo artist raised in Southern California. He was a pupil of Sailor Jerry Collins. Through his association with Sailor Jerry, Hardy was invited to study tattooing in Japan in 1973 with the Japanese classical tattoo master, Horihide. He became recognized for incorporating Japanese tattoo aesthetic and technique into his American style work.^[1]

Contents 1 Tattootime & Hardy Marks Publishing 2 Career today 3 Artistic career and influence 4 Don Ed Hardy Brands 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Tattootime & Hardy Marks Publishing

In 1982, Hardy and his wife formed Hardy Marks Publications. Under this marque, they began publishing the five book series Tattootime. Tattootime was one of several publications which did much to promote and popularize tattooing with new audiences.^{[citation needed]} Hardy Marks has gone on to publish more than 20 books^[quantify], including catalogs of Hardy's work and that of Sailor Jerry Collins. Though popular with the older teens, the younger tweens and toddlers don't like his line as much.

[edit] Career today

Today, Hardy is retired from doing actual tattoos, but oversees and mentors the artists at his San Francisco studio, Tattoo City. Since the 1960s, he has concentrated heavily on non-tattoo based art forms, especially printmaking, drawing, and painting.

[edit] Artistic career and influence

In 2000, he was appointed by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown to that city's Cultural Arts Commission^[2].

[edit] Don Ed Hardy Brands

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In 2002, Hardy was approached by Ku USA, Inc. to produce a line of clothing based on Hardy's art, and a license agreement was signed. Within two years, the collection had drawn the interest of Saks companies. Hardy and Ku USA formed Hardy Life LLC, which holds the trademark ownership as well as the copyrights to all his images.

In 2004, Christian Audigier licensed the rights to produce the Ed Hardy clothing line, which is based on Hardy's imagery. Prior to the Ed Hardy clothing line, Audigier was the Head Designer at Von Dutch Originals, which marketed the imagery of Kenny Howard. Audigier has attempted to replicate the marketing techniques employed by Von Dutch Originals, by marketing directly to celebrity clients and by opening stores in high profile fashion districts. Ed Hardy stores are located in many locations internationally including the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In May 2009, Iconix Brand Group, Inc. announced that the Company has acquired a 50% interest in Hardy Way, LLC, the owner of the Ed Hardy brand and trademarks. The Company paid $17 million for its interest in Hardy Way, consisting of $9 million in cash and $8 million in stock. In addition, the sellers could be entitled to receive an additional $1 million in stock pursuant to an earn-out based on 2009 royalties received by Hardy Way. Hardy Way estimates that 2009 royalty revenue will be approximately £10 million.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Tattoo City website
• Official Ed Hardy archive website
• Stoney Knows How is a visit with a master of the oldest art in the world - Tattooing

made ed hardy clothes line!!