Handcrafted Miami Anchors Down in Wynwood
Chris Nunez, Handcrafted Miami
Situated on N Miami Avenue and 34th Street, is the newly minted Arts District staple, Handcrafted Miami, an uber hip tattoo parlor established by famed tattoo artist and Miami Ink co-founder, Chris Nunez. Handcrafted incorporates its surrounding environment into the store concept, from the decor and furniture, to the art donning the walls. Located on a major thoroughfare, with plenty of flourishing neighboring businesses, the design and layout is exquisite. But that just encompasses the first half of the space’s purpose. Once you walk through the parlor, you enter their gallery space, which also has a garage door leading to their outdoor patio. The multi-use concept combines tattoo enthusiasts love for ink and art. The gallery currently displays an exhibition of works from the most acclaimed tattoo artists from around the country. Handcrafted’s opening party and exhibition during Art Basel, featured top djs, DJ Irie and Mr. Mauricio.
The upscale yet down to earth parlor mixes a refined northeast style with a bourgeois Miami taste. The welcome desk featuring reclaimed wood is closer to what one may find at the Mandarin Oriental than at a South Beach tattoo shop.
On the layout design, Chris describes, “I had this concept of an open art space, as much open space as possible because I wanted to break the mold of traditional tattoo shops, the stuffiness and people having to work on top of each other.” He worked closely with designer, Sean Saladino, brother of Pride and Joy owner and designer, Mike Saladino. Chris continues, “The fact that I just came out of my shop Miami Ink which was on the beach, I wanted to do something completely different. I didn’t want to open Miami Ink Part Two. I wanted this to be a stand alone item. So I just chased that dream.”
In the spirit of making it work with what you have, Chris further delves into the development of the parlor. “A lot of the design concept in here came together at the last minute. The brick wall was donated to me by my contractor. It was his old driveway. When you say the word reclaimed and what’s stylish, this place is reclaimed as hell. All the wood is reclaimed. It was all just grabbed from another warehouse somebody was gonna throw away. I made this place out of as many different elements on the fly as we could to make it come together and that’s kind of what’s happening in the neighborhood.”
The art on the walls complement the installation piece that sets the tone for the space, a World War II anchor set into the floor in a pool of epoxy. Nunez explains the significance of the anchor. “Walking through the front door, I wanted to throw anchor, I wanted to be home. I traveled like crazy over the last almost forty years. I’ve been on the road. Miami’s always been home but I’ve always left to get an art sense, I’ve always had to leave home to get inspiration and now I feel like home inspires me.”
The big glass display gains notice from passerby’s and the street traffic with a larger-than-life fish netted leg. “The leg in the window is actually my girl’s and that was just a way to get people’s eyes to draw towards that and at the same time to do a cool thing to talk about. You walk in and it’s not expected. You’re not expecting to see that in a tattoo shop.” Chris continues, “I also wanted a cool way to display some of the merch I’ve been working on so I wanted to have more of a New York City or LA sneaker head kinda spot with just a cool glass display window. And you pick what you want from that window and it’s brought out to you.”
The most quintessential accent of the parlor, is perhaps the Louis Vuitton arm rest, truly mixing street style and luxury. “It’s pop culture. Louis Vuitton went and got graffiti writers to roll the front of their building. They take from us and we take from them. We find with a lot of the mainstream brands there’s so much collaboration and so much intermixing and so many tattoo artists ripped off from the proper tattooers and used by so called designers. They take our stuff and we never get credit for it. So I decided it was time for us to get a little something back.”
Wynwood and the Design District are the hotbed for that type of intermixing, the retail elite and street, lending itself as the perfect home for Nunez. “This has always been the part of the city that attracts me, with the graffiti background just growing up as a kid who knew all the writers and used to help everybody fill in, I wanted to be close to the street side. I wanted to be more in the hood, in the art area where things are up and coming, than to buy another spot in the played out South Beach area. You don’t have a solid client base there because everybody’s transient so it’s like living in Vegas. Everybody’s there to party for four days and get out with some kind of tattoo. I wanted to do something where we have neighborhoods and some kind of clientele and we cater to more of a collector’s crowd.”
The gallery space, classic white and spacious, goes hand in hand with Handcrafted’s intent of catering to collector clientele. “With the gallery, we wanted to do the environment where you go from the warm kind of eclectic reclaimed but comfy feel from the lighting to the floor to the walls. It’s cold because it’s kind of stark, but at the same time it’s warm and inviting. And then when we cross over into the gallery, we want it stark white so the environment literally changes at the end of the brick wall.”
Untitled, Mike Wilson
The collection of work featured is of prominent tattooers mostly from the East coast who are good friends of Chris. Works in the gallery feature artists such as Tim Hendricks, Luiz Segatto, Mike Rubendall, Phil Holt, and Luke Wessman, and in house tattoo artist, Jamie Ryscik.
Indio, Luiz Segatto
The gallery will feature mainly tattoo and graffiti related art works. “I want to concentrate on Art Walk and become a part of that and promote great artists. Even though I’m not a recognized gallery for Basel I wanted to come out and give home team props. Between graffiti and tattooing, that’s what my passion is, that’s what I love and believe in and that’s the kind of heart that I’m going to try to push so that the real folks get recognized for where these designs really come from.”
The Flight, Jeff Srsic
With the parlor and gallery, Nunez looks to contribute to the burgeoning arts environment and continue to help develop the area’s economy. “Seven years ago, ten years ago, there were no Bentleys or Mercedes parking and lining the streets. There was none of that because you wouldn’t have made it ten blocks without getting jacked. This area, unfortunately, had a very bad stigma. This area has grown incredibly. I think we would see a lot more growth right now if it wasn’t for the economic turndown that we’ve all experienced because that put the brakes on what’s just starting back up now.”
Nunez reflects on the developers who helped to develop the area into what it is today. “If it wasn’t for guys like Tony Goldman and a lot of the visionaries, Lombardi and Mizrach, those are really the guys who had their signs on every building. It was an eclectic group and guys with vision that came in and got the job done, made this art space. Mr. Goldman put a lot of funding towards getting a lot of great artists. Creating a great art space. I hope it continues, that somebody continues with his vision, now that he’s gone, somebody carries out and executes what he started.”
From L to R: Fernando Bertacin, Chris Nunez, Jamie Ryscik, Orlando DaFonseca
Handcrafted Miami is currently open and taking appointments.
3438 N Miami Ave.
Miami, FL 33127
855.666. (CRFT)2738
305.571. (CRFT)2738
Lombardi Properties is a leading real estate firm in Wynwood owning approximately 40 commercial and residential properties in the Wynwood Arts District. Broker, David Lombardi, has been buying and investing in Wynwood realty since 2000.
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