What I could never understand about tattoos is how people can choose to literally brand themselves with an image, symbol etc. that might seem so meaningful to their current self when 10, 20, 30 years down the road they might feel very differently about it but are then stuck with this image from their younger, less mature self for life.
Or... it's a visible narrative of the person's life. Like old photos or journals. I used to struggle with this idea too, like it is so much of a risk in case you changed your mind or didn't like it or it reminded you of something you wanted to forget. Our relationship with our bodies is really interesting!
Great roundup or articles. Interesting to think of whose stories are told, but I think traditional American fare of many types excludes the cultural contributors. Reclaiming parts of that history is an interesting development since there aren’t nearly as many well known black artists.
I’m also interested in the normalization of art careers. I was just discussing with somehow how our African upbringings did not value creative brains. It’s not all about STEM. Writing now pushes back against that perception but I almost value coming back a bit later because I have much less fear now than I did as a kid.
It's interesting what you say about your upbringing. Actually that's something that the artist Kehinde Wiley talks about too. What we are allowed to do / what we allow ourselves to do. I think it intersects with class as well. I remember a friend of mine once talking about what she really wanted to do when she was a child (become a writer) but she's ended up as a lawyer because the weight of family expectations was too much - and that had a huge impact on her own mindset too. She was the first in her family to go to university.
GREAT! thanks for this link Judy. Ruth Marten's interesting, and I'll need to spend some time looking into Bakaty and Summers too. Interesting that Nauman and Burden had early body tattoo pieces.
Didn't know of Doreen Garner, what a talented artist. I love what she is doing with her tattoo work, but also her sculpture too. It's interesting how she thinks about black and white skin. I hadn't thought about tattoos in this way before i.e. as symbols with contemporary political meaning. I suppose because most people I know who have tats get them because it's fashionable and acceptable to do it now.
Reading this post has made me wonder why a tattoo artist has never broken through into the art world proper (afaik). You would think one artist might have been able to become so renowned that people would clamour for their commissions, just as it has happened through history in the traditional art forms of painting, sculpture etc. You could easily imagine people competing to have a famous tattoo artists work on their body, at least in part to claim status and prestige for being the literal canvas of one of an artist's masterpieces. Would be even more personal than than just having a famous painting on your wall. An exhibition of a tattoo artist's work could be an opportunity for a fascinating experiential human event where the clients all collect together in a room and show off their tattoos to each other and the public. Didn't know I wanted this until just now!
I like how Doreen Garner talks about her tattoo work as being affordable artworks that her clients can collect on their bodies. Like Chevanne says, there are some tattooists who are really in demand, but they are outside of the Art Establishment.
People do clamor for certain artists and they command very high rates for their work. There are artists at Bang Bang in New York who have tattooed famous people, some have unique styles which are sought after, but no real household names unless they’ve been on television or pivoted to other industries (like Kat VonD). There’s a lot of gatekeeping in the art world and tattoo artists are not trained by accepted means or exhibit by those means either.
WOW Gakkin's work is something else! It's amazing. Japan has an interesting history of tattooing. It was banned from the late 19th century to the end of WW2 when the American GIs arrived because it was associated with the Yakuza (organised crime syndicates). Up until recently you could only be a legal tattooist if you had a medical licence. I think it's still quite taboo, but it's got a growing reputation amongst young Japanese. Here's an interesting video from a practitioner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9F1BmiTS1I
Ah wow .. wonderful mail .. and thank you for the Fidjit Drowning Girl video Vic .. how empowering!!
Thanks for reading Julie!
What a fascinating post - I love how you look at an often overlooked expression of art. Thank you for highlighting this.
Thanks Kate, that's great to hear
What I could never understand about tattoos is how people can choose to literally brand themselves with an image, symbol etc. that might seem so meaningful to their current self when 10, 20, 30 years down the road they might feel very differently about it but are then stuck with this image from their younger, less mature self for life.
Or... it's a visible narrative of the person's life. Like old photos or journals. I used to struggle with this idea too, like it is so much of a risk in case you changed your mind or didn't like it or it reminded you of something you wanted to forget. Our relationship with our bodies is really interesting!
Great roundup or articles. Interesting to think of whose stories are told, but I think traditional American fare of many types excludes the cultural contributors. Reclaiming parts of that history is an interesting development since there aren’t nearly as many well known black artists.
I’m also interested in the normalization of art careers. I was just discussing with somehow how our African upbringings did not value creative brains. It’s not all about STEM. Writing now pushes back against that perception but I almost value coming back a bit later because I have much less fear now than I did as a kid.
It's interesting what you say about your upbringing. Actually that's something that the artist Kehinde Wiley talks about too. What we are allowed to do / what we allow ourselves to do. I think it intersects with class as well. I remember a friend of mine once talking about what she really wanted to do when she was a child (become a writer) but she's ended up as a lawyer because the weight of family expectations was too much - and that had a huge impact on her own mindset too. She was the first in her family to go to university.
https://www.artforum.com/print/198105/tattoo-the-state-of-the-art-37948 Ruth Marten has a long interesting art career , she was also a tattoo artist and reinvented 'tribal' as a style in the late 70s because it works on all skin colors. There's a lot of her work and books online
GREAT! thanks for this link Judy. Ruth Marten's interesting, and I'll need to spend some time looking into Bakaty and Summers too. Interesting that Nauman and Burden had early body tattoo pieces.
Didn't know of Doreen Garner, what a talented artist. I love what she is doing with her tattoo work, but also her sculpture too. It's interesting how she thinks about black and white skin. I hadn't thought about tattoos in this way before i.e. as symbols with contemporary political meaning. I suppose because most people I know who have tats get them because it's fashionable and acceptable to do it now.
Garner is great, she also makes sculpture which speaks to the history of slavery https://art21.org/watch/new-york-close-up/doreen-garner-on-her-own-terms/
Reading this post has made me wonder why a tattoo artist has never broken through into the art world proper (afaik). You would think one artist might have been able to become so renowned that people would clamour for their commissions, just as it has happened through history in the traditional art forms of painting, sculpture etc. You could easily imagine people competing to have a famous tattoo artists work on their body, at least in part to claim status and prestige for being the literal canvas of one of an artist's masterpieces. Would be even more personal than than just having a famous painting on your wall. An exhibition of a tattoo artist's work could be an opportunity for a fascinating experiential human event where the clients all collect together in a room and show off their tattoos to each other and the public. Didn't know I wanted this until just now!
I like how Doreen Garner talks about her tattoo work as being affordable artworks that her clients can collect on their bodies. Like Chevanne says, there are some tattooists who are really in demand, but they are outside of the Art Establishment.
People do clamor for certain artists and they command very high rates for their work. There are artists at Bang Bang in New York who have tattooed famous people, some have unique styles which are sought after, but no real household names unless they’ve been on television or pivoted to other industries (like Kat VonD). There’s a lot of gatekeeping in the art world and tattoo artists are not trained by accepted means or exhibit by those means either.
Gatekeeping. Exactly.
WOW Gakkin's work is something else! It's amazing. Japan has an interesting history of tattooing. It was banned from the late 19th century to the end of WW2 when the American GIs arrived because it was associated with the Yakuza (organised crime syndicates). Up until recently you could only be a legal tattooist if you had a medical licence. I think it's still quite taboo, but it's got a growing reputation amongst young Japanese. Here's an interesting video from a practitioner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9F1BmiTS1I