Central Tattoo Studios (171 W. Girard Ave.) in Northern Liberties operates as a tattoo shop and an art gallery, with some exciting new art exhibitions coming up.

The owners of Central Tattoo Studio are husband and wife Pete Zebley and Melissa Montiel.

Pete Zebley is the shop’s resident tattoo artist and has nearly two decades of experience at shops like the now-closed Poison Apple Tattoo and Bill Funk’s Body Graphics Tattoo, according to a Philly.com article.

Montiel previously worked as Associate Director at Wexler Gallery in Old City. Montiel utilizes this experience to curate bi-monthly art exhibitions in the front gallery space of the tattoo shop.

According to their website, Central Tattoo Studio searches for local emerging or mid-career artists that present work focused on “line, color and composition.”

Nick Lenker’s work is currently being shown at the shop until November 30th.

The studio’s next art exhibition named Broken Thread features the work of Katie Minford. The exhibition runs from December 5 – January 31, 2016 with an opening reception on December 6th from 6 – 10PM.

Minford creates sculptural thread paintings by “lofting different colored thread, one by one, onto the canvas.” Her work focuses on the theme of female identity.

“Fiber art has closely associated with craft as performed by women, while painting has typically been dominated by men,” reads a press release about Minford’s Broken Thread exhibition. “Minford has broken these associations by manipulating the inherent qualities of the material to create beautiful, textural abstractions in thread on canvas that balance elements of sculpture, craft and painting.”