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Down for a good trip? Look no further than Chris Evans’ Good Trip Gallery in DTR, an art gallery-meets-tattoo studio that’s shaking up the local arts scene.
“There are no rules in art”… so says local tattoo artist, painter and Good Trip Gallery owner Chris Evans—an MO that quickly becomes apparent when you walk into his colorful gallery awash wall-to-wall with his paintings spanning all styles and subjects, from people to animals to the abstract. “I just paint whatever I feel,” he says.
The same goes for his tattoos. If he had to choose a go-to style, it would be photorealism, but, says the artist, “I don’t like saying I have a style—I like to try whatever feels right.”
A born creative, Evans picked up tattooing in high school as another way to make money. “It was probably a little illegal,” he jokes. He’d always wanted an art gallery and thought that eventually he would transition out of tattooing into a full-time painter. But why choose one when you can have the best of both worlds?! And, so, Good Trip Gallery was born January 2021, peddling both his dope tattoo skills and his paintings.
“I just hadn’t seen an [all-in-one] art gallery and tattoo studio before, so I knew I wanted to try it and bring it to Downtown Raleigh,” adds Evans, who was born in Apex, but migrated to the City of Oaks two years ago to open the avant-garde art house.
In addition to offering his artworks and tattoo services at Good Trip Gallery, Evans also participates monthly in Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s First Friday—during which you’ll find him posted up outside on the sidewalk to live-paint, with another local artist live-painting in the gallery’s back room, a DJ or live musician on-site, and late hours to boot.
This month, you also can catch Good Trip Gallery repping at IBMA Bluegrass Live! (Sept. 30–Oct. 1), where, in addition to having his artwork on display, Evans will be performing a live painting. (Unfortunately, though, you can’t get a tatt out in the middle of Fayetteville Street. Womp womp.)
And as far as the virtuoso’s “goal” for the gallery… well, he doesn’t really have one. Now in his 17th year as a full-time tattoo artist, Evans emphasizes that he doesn’t want his creative outlets to turn into work. “I know that sounds crazy being in business, but I don’t have a goal or an expectation with my art,” he adds. “Whatever happens, happens.” Sounds like a good trip, indeed. goodtripgallery.com
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