You may or may not know that many tattoo artists don't limit their creative expression to skin. And if you think about it, they really should be talented artists, since they permanently alter people's bodies. Currently up at 1975 Gallery is the work of eight artists from LoveHate Tattoo. The 1975 Gallery's real estate is located on the walls of Surface Salon, yet another local biz that doubles as a gallery. And honestly, why not? The presence of actual artwork to gaze at while you're being lathered and shorn sure beats having to stare at cheesy photos of fashion models with complicated coifs.

There are many good reasons not to get inked: a corporate job, a fear of needles, turned off by commitment. So if you love that tattoo look, but want your skin to remain a blank slate, why not tattoo your walls? OK, not every piece in the show resembles tat art, but a great deal of it hails from the tradition. Ferocious beasties, screaming eagles, glaring skulls, and buxom, pouty-lipped ladies abound. But that's not the extent of the show. Each of the artists has a distinct style, and it's interesting to compare their art to the samples of their living canvases available on the tat shop's site (lovehatetattoo.com).

Jet DiProjetto sticks mostly to black ink washes with red detailing, with a few exceptions. "Into the Void" is a large, intricate Cyclops-esque skull with a covert Illuminati eye within a pyramid. The brutal title of the show comes from Jet's "Selfish," which features the pretty, pretty script as well as a black ink wash of a pensive, bearded self-portrait face bisected by the edge of the page, whose hair trails off into fern-like tendrils. "Price of Blood & Gold" would've fit perfectly in the Method Lab's "Bushwacked" show from this past fall. It features a red-spattered Dubya leaking black fluid from his eyes and his grin, surrounded by stacks of gold coins and American paraphernalia.

If you're looking for that classic tat style, Joe Caiazza's colorful work reads like a flash book (books of ink designs available at a parlor). "Hanja Mask" is a rainbow-colored, Japanese-inspired rendering of a saber-toothed warrior face chock full of snakes and flowers. Caiazza's images abound with fierce and multicolored reptiles navigating gray waves and neon flowers, as well as the traditional swallows, koi fish, and tigers.

Adrien Moses Clark's "Hunger" is the leering face of Big Bad Wolf, complete with sketchy, shaggy fur and bared fangs, surrounded by blood-red thumbprints. Its loose style is in contrast to the artist's sharp, clean "Would've Bit Cha," a symmetrical coil of serpent and roses.

The tarted up vegetable in Zane DiProjetto's "Pumpkin Hookers" cracked me up, and he continues his love of cartoonish figures with a depiction of Zelda's Link mid-sword-swoop, and other colored-in pen drawings of zombies and the like.

Aidan Monahan's ink drawings of a slightly modified version of the deadly sins held much attention at the opening party, though they are wedged in a narrow rear hallway. "Lust" features an octo-teated pig standing atop a skull with interest-popped eyes. "Jealous" is my favorite of the set, with a chaotic, splotchy black cloud of negativity about to devour a flower. "Flash 01" and "Flash 02" are decorative examples of Monahan's tattoo work, showing off his skill at rendering and shading such classic standbys as sparrows, "Mother" and "Dad" within hearts, gypsies, pirates, and various ferocious beasties.

Joe Newton's well-balanced renderings of anatomy are, of the group, the most removed from overt tattoo style. Above the doorway to the loo is the large painting "Ribs," in which a golden ribcage twists alone on a blue background. "Embryo" is a large and up-close look at interior monochrome: reds and pinks weave and curl, conveying translucent cells and vessels. Of his pencil drawings, the most accomplished is "Inside," where seeming muscles, tendons, and interior orifices are gently shaded to achieve realistic depth and gentle undulation of surface.

The black ink-drawn, drippy, stringy, grotesque severed heads in Brian Wahl's untitled series were present for the opening party only, as the gallery-salon decided not to potentially traumatize those just stopping in for a trim. Wahl's work would make a great addition to any monstrous collection, so if you're interested in seeing them, contact the shop.

The zombie warrior of Ben Wight's serigraph "Revisted" reads like a coat-of-arms, with faded maggot background and maggot details. Two varied editions, featuring the works in different colors, are included in this show. His "Seven Commandments" series is a huge departure from the gruesome portrait. Each is comprised of splatters, drips, and washes of bright and neutral colors. I liked "Six" best; the complementary tertiary olive and pea greens and lilac combination really appealed to me - I enjoy some pastel with my decay. I don't know if Wight was reaching for depth here, but the pairing of such a title with entirely abstract art struck me as amusing.

Then there is the Eagle Wall, which presents various incarnations of the patriotic staple. Seven of the eight artists flipped us the bird, filling the space with soaring, diving, glaring, and talon-wielding raptors. I dug the hell out of Wight's realistic rendering of the eagle standing atop an eagle skull, with a colorfully patterned background. But Jet trounced everyone with a huge black-and-white panel infested with "30-Something Eagles." Show off.

Death Unto Our Enemies

The Artists of LoveHate Tattoo

Through September 25

1975 Gallery, Surface Salon, 658 South Ave.

360-4446, 1975ish.com

Mon-Fri 11 a.m.-7 p.m.