The Art Guys Museum to host reception

A Southern California native born in 1945, Don Hardy revived a childhood determination to become a tattoo artist and underwent a tattoo apprenticeship while simultaneously receiving a B.F.A. in printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1967.

The Art Guys Museum of Whatever We Please, located at 5757 Knox St. in Houston, will host international tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy for an opening-night reception from 7-9 p.m. June 8.

Hardy, a Southern California native, returns to the museum for the first time since 1997.

The DiverseWorks ArtSpace gallery, located at 1117 East Freeway in Houston, will also present Hardy's "2000 Dragons," a 500-foot-long scroll painting of 2000 dragons, and his series of 12 new dragon paintings from June 9 to July 7. An opening reception is scheduled for 3-6 p.m. June 9.

Hardy took part in a tattoo apprenticeship while studying for and receiving a B.F.A. in printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1967 and has been tattooing professionally since then. His current focus is on creating and exhibiting works in more traditional media, including watercolor, acrylic on paper and porcelain painting.

His solo exhibitions have been featured at galleries and institutions such as the Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif.; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Colo.; Instituto de Artes Graficas in Oaxaca, Mexico; Rena Bransten Gallery and SFMOMA Artists Gallery in San Francisco; and New York City's Museum of American Folk Art. In 2004, the Ed Hardy fashion line was launched.