Gabriele Wright and Damian Reed, co-owners, pose in False Idols Tattoo. They are open since October 2022.Photo by Josh Kelly | Photo by Josh Kelly
Gabriele Wright, Damian Reed, and a decade of tattooing have brought them together to open their shop in October. They are co-owners at False Idols Tattoo and they love to bring people together by sharing a mutual passion for art.
Since meeting several years ago, the two have helped push each other to elevate their art — even with contrasting styles.
“It didn’t take long for us to start challenging each other because we were very opposite in what we like to do,” Wright said. “Damian likes bold lines and bright colors and stuff, and I like really fine lines black and gray.”
The two ended up traveling to a different shop — where Wright needed to tattoo Reed to get her foot in the door — and from there they’ve had the same passion to run their place together.
“We’re both hungry to learn more. We’ve always wanted to go to tattoo conventions and just branch out,” Reed said.
Since opening False Idols (located at 1929 Tripplett Street), Wright and Reed worked hard to find ways to bring customers in; one of their biggest turnouts was January’s Friday the 13th sale.
The clientele that came in on that day were not regulars, they said, and the turnout was so big that the last customer didn’t leave until about 10:30 p.m. — two hours after the shop technically closed.
“I’ve never seen most of these people before, so you don’t realize your reach until it happens,” Wright said.
False Idols’ main goal is to ensure they can tattoo a variety of skin tones.
“I also didn’t realize how many people with darker skin tones think that they can’t get color [tattoos] or you’re just not comfortable asking people. [they don’t know if the artist] is even comfortable doing this,” Wright said.
She said it’s important that they continue to provide those services and grow in their ability because they want to promise a tattoo that the client is going to enjoy, regardless of who they are before walking into the shop.
“The number of people that [come in the shop and] They interact with one another in many ways that are complete opposites. But they all have one common thing — they like art, and that can bring people together,” Wright said.
You can find False Idols Tattoo via Instagram or Facebook.
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