There was a time, when tattoo studios could only be found on the fringe of bustling commercial neighborhoods, as they were not considered to be legit businesses by building owners who would rather lease to hair salons or nail studios. Today, our society has a different outlook on tattoos, which means that the tat shops are picking and choosing where they want to open, not where they are relegated to opening. The opening of a tat shop in an otherwise sleepy commercial district can bode well for the area’s vibrancy, especially when the operator in question is Mark Madden. Mark’s penchant for graphic design, live mural art, fine art, event organizing, and tattooing via Madd Grafix, has positioned his business as a staple in the Buffalo art community for over a decade.
Mark started the business in 2001 as a small tattoo/graphic design facility in the heart of Allentown’s art district as a means to provide his one of a kind illustrative, bold color designs on skin and canvas. As one of the first live art muralists for Robby Takac’s “Music is Art” festival, Mark fell in love with performing live art for an audience, and has taken measures to try and “wow” spectators at several events a year.
From the start, Madd Grafix offered wall space to local art enthusiasts and became a hub of art excitement, in order to showcase local talent. During the Allentown Art Festival, Mark’s crew would have live musicians and street performers drawing a crowd, and the Mass scene began to be known for a lot more mediums than pure skin art. Soon the business outgrew the small Allentown art space, and Mark opened his second location – MaddTat2 – in his old Buffalo State neighborhood near the corner of Forest and Elmwood. This area had recently lost some of the cultural icons that made the area famous – Home of The Hits and Mondo Video.
After establishing MaddTat2 Mark opened the Guerrilla Gallery/coffee shop as a showplace for exhibiting artists and local artisans along with monthly live music and art shows. It was around that time that Mark (a Boston transplant) met his wife-to-be Dawn (a San Diego transplant), and the two began the art of juggling all three business. Along with all of the Buffalo business, Mark traveled quite a bit, doing regular guest spots in Hollywood, San Francisco, Hawaii and Las Vegas. He has tattooed his fair share of art, music and sports moguls including being the tattoo artist for Dennis Rodman for a time. Mark has also had the honor of having his art hung at the Albright Knox (among others) and has curated several large gallery events, including most recently The Witches Ball at The Hotel @ The Lafayette.
A few years ago Mark noticed that there was a buzz going on around Hertel Avenue and started Madd Tiki as a homage to his travels in Polynesia. His third tat shop was designed as a tiki bar themed art/tattoo gallery down the street from the new Spot Coffee and next to the [now] newly renovated North Park Theatre.
So what’s in store for the Madd Grafix family now?
Mark has set his sights on Niagara Street – the home of his new storefront called Madd Loco. Some would say he’s mad crazy to take on another business, but with the growth of tattoo acceptance and popularity, and lack of studios in the Black Rock and Riverside community it only seems to make sense. Essentially, Mark is offering an alternative to the all too prevalent street tattoo party scenario – a very dangerous underground practice of inexperienced tattooers with no knowledge in cross contamination and the risks of very deadly diseases.
With the advent of his latest studio, Mark is excited to be located directly across from Buffalo landmark Gothic City (direct view and from the i-90 and main route to the GM engine plant). Madd Loco will be offering a discount to all current UAW members with I.D. He plans on organizing several street art events throughout the year and intends to bring some color to the area in hopes that other businessmen will follow his lead to help revitalize the gateway to Riverside/Niagara Falls.
If you look around these days and take notice of who is sporting tattoos, you will notice that there are just as many young moms and dads with tattoos as there are rockers and bikers. And when I say “bikers”, I’m talking about cyclists… that’s how much times have changed. Hopefully the next time I write about mark and the gang it will be introducing an art event to the Niagara Street neighborhood.
If you’re looking to book an appointment at any one of the Madd locations, you can call 716 783 7652 or check them out on the web at MaddTat2.com.
MADDTAT2 is located at 1115 Elmwood Avenue /Phone # 716-602-7441
MADDTIKI is located at 1432 Hertel Avenue / Phone# 716-783-7652
MADDLOCO is located at 1943 Niagara street / Phone# 716-768-4827 (grand opening will be on January 15, 2014)