TwoThreeNine.com recently interviewed HOWL Gallery/Tattoo co-owner Andy Howl. Checkout the original article at TwoThreeNine.com, click here.
Q&A with Andy Howl of Howl Gallery/Tattoo
This past Friday I sat down with Andy Howl of Howl Gallery/Tattoo in downtown Fort Myers. In addition to owning a gallery dedicated to bringing fresh art and faces to the 239, Andy is actively involved in promoting arts and culture within the community.
He serves as a co-chair of the monthly Art Walk (and Music Walk) in downtown Fort Myers as well as being involved with Digital Lee, the first-ever Digital Arts Expo for Lee County Public School students. On the first Friday of every month, the doors of ten art galleries and numerous businesses stay open late so the residents of the 239 can peruse galleries and support local businesses and local art.
Andy’s work spans many mediums and embodies a pop culture vibe; he cites Charles Burns and the “low-brow” art of Mike Giant among his numerous inspirations. Andy was named a 2010 trailblazer by the Fort Myers News Press for his involvement in Art Walk and Music Walk. Though he admits that it’s “been a challenge to make sure that the two events have their own identity,” the dedication of downtown artists and business owners to building community is evident in the packed parking lots and bustling streets during the Walks.
Andy, first things, first, how did you end up in the 239?
‘We had family in the area, we moved here from Michigan…I moved here in 2005…I went to college (at SCAD – Savannah College of Art and Design) and then moved back to Michigan, worked there through most of my twenties, so I didn’t move down here until I was like 28.”
What drew you to tattooing as a medium?
“When I went to college, that’s when I was first exposed to other art students who had started tattooing. There were a couple shops there like Planet 3 and Alien Arts Guild and I became friends with the people who owned shops there. I was just instantly turned onto tattooing when I first exposed to it….I went to college to do comic books, so it was only a step away from tattoos, so once I was exposed to tattoo culture, it just clicked for me. It just had that kinda comic book feel, but more adult, so it just felt natural.”
Do you think that comic books and digital art inspire your style?
“Oh yeah, for sure, I do a lot of web design and illustration too, so for me it’s all one thing, you know, the same kind of aesthetics that I like flow between all of my comic books, tattooing, design stuff. It all has that same kind of energy.”
Where did the inspiration for Howl come from?
“Well my last name of course, but the gallery itself…My wife and I, Alainna (Zwiernik), it’s all of the stuff that we like. It’s pop culture; it’s tattooing, it’s comics, it’s rock posters, just the stuff we like.”
I know you were recently involved in the Digital Lee Logo Design Competition, as a judge. What do you think that events like Art Walk mean to young and aspiring artists growing up in the 239?
“Well hopefully it will give them an idea of the real adult, you know, business, side of the art world. Hopefully it will expose them to that, with all the galleries that are downtown. Graphic design, in general, is everywhere. It’s a big part of the art world, so hopefully they kind of can get their feet wet and get an idea of what’s going on in the world outside of high school.”
Art Walk just celebrated its second anniversary, in October — quite a big accomplishment. I grew up in the 239 so this is definitely a different culture than we had when I was growing up. Tell me a little bit about how you got involved in Art Walk and what that journey’s been like for you. Has it opened up networking in the River district?
“Before we (Howl Gallery) actually opened up, a lot of the galleries knew we were going to be opening, so they invited us to the first planning meetings to talk about doing a new Art Walk. There was a gallery (La Casa del Arte), sort of on the outskirts of town by the butterfly garden, he definitely helped get the ball rolling, Greg Knezevich. It was all the galleries, just kinda got together. I just took on some responsibilities from the start; doing web design, doing the graphic design that they needed, working on a logo and it just kept snowballing from there. I’ve just been on board since the beginning. Art Walk has not only brought all the galleries together, it’s brought all of the businesses together so it’s really helped unify the scene and hopefully it’s had a good effect.”
Do you see it as a part of the revitalization of Downtown?
“Oh yeah, that was definitely in the backs, or the fronts of our minds, the whole time. ‘How can we re-invent downtown after all these years of construction that happened?’ So, the reputation improvement (for the downtown area) was always at the forefront of what we were trying to do.”
Where do you think that Art Walk is going to be headed in 2011? Any big secrets you’d like to share or events you’d like to hint at?
“Yeah; here at Howl we’ve got some great shows coming up…we’ve got some professional Science Fiction artists…you know, if we’re doing it, it’s gonna have some kind of a pop culture slant, but we’ve definitely got some cool stuff coming up.”
I have one last weird “239″ question for you. What is your favorite spot in the 239? What sort of embodies 239 for you?
“For me, it’s actually two things. You know, downtown, the River District and the culture here and just the woods in Lehigh,’cause I live in the woods.”
- Andy with Skimboards from the December 2010 Howl/Captiva Island Skimboard show — Photography by Kable Grey Photography
- Andy with his tattooing apprentice, Matthew Lackey — Photography by Kable Grey Photography
- Evidence of Pop Art influence at Howl Gallery/Tattoo — Photography by Kable Grey Photography
–A.
Writer/Editor/Art Appreciator, twothreenine.com
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