Queer Is Punk, Queer Is Joy: Zach Grear’s Tattooed Collages

Queerness has a different meaning for everyone; it can be loud or quiet, brave or easy, extravagant or discreet, and many more unique and different meanings, depending on who you are. Well, Zach’s queerness is joyful, punk and full of rage and beauty. And we do like the program.

This self-taught, New York based artist has developed his very own style, inspired by queer erotica and tattoo iconography. The principle? Zach transforms images he finds, often in vintage gay porn magazines that he used to shoplift as a teen (his words, not ours), giving them a little… tattooed twist.

The result are these queer, punk and badass collages, displaying people’s ‘othered’ version of themselves. Zach uses recurrent symbols in his work, such as themes of youth, decadence and catharsis. A lot of the tattoos he uses are of the neo traditional styles, including roses, barbells, daggers, cranes and hearts. And my, we do like to see tattooed people with a vintage vibe!

If you like Zach’s work, several prints of his collages are available, as well as t-shirts and hoodies, which are getting his message out there: queer is joy, queer is punk, queer is rage, queer is beauty. Exist loudly.

Down below, you will find examples of Zach’s work as well as a snippet of the merch available on his website. And yes, we desperately want a Queer Theory t-shirt!