About Mario Barth




WORLD RENOWNED and celebrity tattoo artist Mario Barth is the owner and chief tattoo artist at Starlight Tattoo™, the premier international tattoo organization with six high-end tattoo studios and the online tattoo supply company called, The Tattoo Super Store. Amazingly, since its inception in the US in 1999, Starlight Tattoo has generated one of the fastest growing clientele with more than 20,000 customers; making it one of the most successful tattoo studios in the world. In fact, The National Tattoo Association named Starlight Tattoo "the nicest tattoo studio worldwide."

IN ADDITION to his US studios—the only OSHA approved tattoo studios in the nation, Mario Barth recently open Starlight Tattoo in Malaga, Spain and is presently working on the construction of three European studios and one in Asia. In February 2008, the doors opened to Starlight Tattoo at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, the first-ever tattoo studio inside a music venue at the revolutionary Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

MARIO BARTH ALSO invents cutting-edge products for the industry. He is the creator and manufacturer of the first-ever sterile single dose inks (Singlez™) which contain his world renowned Intenze Ink Tattoo Colors. Setting new standards for safety and health in the industry, Intenze Colors are the hottest inks in the business.

KNOWN IN the tattoo industry as the foremost innovator and trendsetter, Mario Barth is the winner of over 200 international awards and has an extraordinary celebrity clientele, including Sylvester Stallone, Tommy Lee, Lenny Kravitz, Usher, Fieldy of KoRn, Ja Rule, Nikki Sixx, My Chemical Romance, rapper Jim Jones and NFL Giants’ Super Bowl Champions Jermaine Taylor, Kendrick Allen and David Diehl to name a few. Besides his celebrity clientele, exclusive international guest artists seek out Barth, including Samoan Master Pili Mo'o and Japanese Grand Master Hori Toshi. Mario Barth is one of the only Western tattoo artists to be accepted into the small and secret society of Japan's tattoo families.

NAMED ONE of the most influential artists in the history of tattooing, Mario Barth hosts the annual Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth™, a tattoo and piercing expo which draws crowds in excess of 25,000—the largest collection of tattoo artists in the world. Due to its extreme popularity, Paisano publications has dedicated an entire annual magazine (in three languages) based solely on the Tattoo Expo.

MARIO BARTH’S EXPERTISE and fame has given national and international media cause to seek him out, including MTV, VH1, BBC, WABC, WNBC, WB11, New Jersey 12, "Dick Clark Living Large," Howard Stern, US Weekly, NJ Monthly, The Ave Magazine, The New York Post, The Associated Press and Inc. magazine, garnering over 100 million media impressions each year. Mario Barth has been featured on the cover of countless trade publications, including Inked, Skinart, International Tattoo Art, Outlaw Biker Tattoo Review, Tattoo magazine and Tattoo Planet. Mario Barth wrote the foreword and is featured in The Keibunsha Institute’s upcoming book on the history of tattooing. The renowned Keibunsha Institute is the world’s largest research organization for tattoo history.

ADDITIONALLY, MARIO BARTH is the executive producer and host of an award-winning documentary, "Under the Skin," which takes viewers on an amazing journey where no cameras have gone before—the secret, underground world of traditional Japanese tattoo. The documentary won "Best Documentary" at the New York Independent Film Festival, "Best Director" at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and the Award of Excellence from the 2008 Accolade Competition.

MARIO BARTH BEGAN his career over 20 years ago as a teenager in Austria. After training for several years, the Austrian native opened his first tattoo studio in 1989. He opened three stores before moving to the United States. Mario Barth opened the first of its kind upscale tattoo studios in Detroit and Miami Beach, before settling down in New Jersey. In 1999 he opened Starlight Tattoo in Fair Lawn, NJ. That same year he opened a store in Paterson, NJ, followed by a store in Belleville, NJ in 2001 and in Rochelle Park, NJ in 2005.

SOME OF Mario Barth’s many awards include: The 2005 Goldminds’ Innovation of the Year—awarded to only one recipient each year, of which only three have been tattoo artists; Artist of the Year, for seven consecutive years; Best of Show; Best Tattooist; Best Color Tattoo; Best Black and Grey Tattoo; Best Portrait; Best New Style; Best Freehand Artist; Best Overall; Best Backpiece and Best Overall Color. In fact, Barth voluntarily retired from competing at the Finnish Ink Expo in Finland after he won "Artist of the Year" for eight consecutive years.

MARIO BARTH CURRENTLY serves as consultant and practitioner for Hackensack Cosmetic Surgeons for reconstructive micro pigmentation on cancer patients. He created a series of special inks for use in reconstructive surgery to help patients adjust with a more natural dermal appearance after major operations. Barth, the founding shareholder of the Amsterdam Museum, is a long standing member of all internationally recognized tattoo organizations including the National Tattoo Association, Alliance of Professional Tattooists, Tattoo Club of Great Britain and The Society of Permanent Makeup Specialists.

MARIO BARTH, WHO speaks four languages, holds several degrees and resides in Washington Township, New Jersey with his wife and business partner Carol. The couple is involved in several philanthropic organizations, including Starlight’s Starting Over Program which Barth created to assist former gang members with a fresh start in life, CureSearch Childhood Cancer Foundation, Red Cross of America, Have A Heart and Kids Who Rock.