You can wear your heart on your sleeve this Valentine’s Day with a free heart tattoo from one of the city’s most sought-after artists.
Evan Kim, who specializes in fine line and single-needle work, will be permanently marking folks with a single colored heart inspired by the “Lovewall/Bleeding Hearts” mural seen in SoHo (and around the world) by artist James Goldcrown.
Kim will dole out tattoos on a first come, first served basis at Dream Downtown hotel from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The complimentary ink is being done in celebration of Goldcrown’s latest installation of his heart mural at the hotel that will be on view through June. Anyone can visit the painting near the lobby and take their photo in front of it daily.
Goldcrown will be at the pop-up tattoo parlor and plans to get inked himself, he told amNewYork.
The 37-year-old originally went public with his “Bleeding Hearts/Lovewall” in 2014 for Lasso Pizza in SoHo, and it exploded on social media, he said.
“Eva Chen posted it on Facebook, and she had half-a-million followers,” he said. “Every girl in the world took a photo with it after that. It got a bit out of control.”
When Goldcrown first came up with the mural, it was meant to be a meditation on the rhythm of the heart, but since it became viral it’s taken on various meanings, he said.
“It’s reached out to so many people,” he added. “I’ve read a lot of things about how it’s helped people dealing with death, breakups, divorces, new loves, having a child, marriage — it has a very different voice for people. It’s definitely impacted people more than I ever thought it would. It’s an honoring situation — people being touched by something you’ve done.”
Dream Downtown is located at 355 W. 16th St. near Ninth Avenue.
