Art / Tattoo

Preview: Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed, M Shed

By Steve Wright  Saturday Mar 16, 2019

This spring, M Shed gives over its exhibition spaces to a ground-breaking and comprehensive history of the deceptively popular and oft-misunderstood art of tattooing.

Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed features cutting-edge designers, leading academics and major private collectors, all challenging long-standing myths and preconceptions about tattoos – and celebrating the art form’s astonishingly rich heritage.

Showcasing the work of major tattoo artists from George Burchett, via the Bristol Tattoo Club, to Alex Binnie and Lal Hardy, Tattoo is the largest gathering of real objects and original tattoo artwork ever assembled in the UK. The exhibition features over 400 original artworks, photographs and historic artifacts and, in order to make it representative of Bristol’s own rich tattoo culture, M Shed has also been collecting tattoo stories from the public and local tattoo artists.

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Luke Hayes’ installation ‘100 Hands’ forms a major centrepiece of ‘Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed’ at M Shed this spring

The exhibition features items from three of the most important private collections of tattoo material in Britain, belonging to Paul ‘Rambo’ Ramsbottom, Willie Robinson and Bristol’s Jimmie Skuse. It also delves into previously unseen private archives that reveal hidden histories – including the incredible real story of Britain’s pioneering female tattoo artist.

Jessie Knight took over her father’s tattoo shop in South Wales and started tattooing for a living in 1921, aged just 18 years old. As a pioneering female tattooist, though, Knight faced prejudice – her shops were broken into, her standards questioned and her work stolen. But, says the show’s organisers, she was talented, brave and professional, and her designs were different to anything seen before.

Poster advertising the tattoo studio of the pioneering female tattoo artist Jessie Knight

Elsewhere we’re introduced to Bristol Tattoo Club, started in 1953 by Les Skuse, ‘Champion Tattoo Artist of All Great Britain’. Les wanted to help promote and improve standards in tattooing, and to provide tattoo artists and their clients with a place to meet and show off their work. He held the first-ever tattoo convention at the White Horse pub in St Pauls. When Les died in 1973, his son Danny took over the Club: it’s now run by Danny’s own son Jimmie, who has lent some of his incredible tattoo collection to M Shed.

Elsewhere, the 100 Hands project, curated by Alice Snape of Things and Ink magazine, is based around 100 silicone arms, each tattooed with an original design by 100 of the leading tattoo artists working across the UK. This exhibit creates an important artistic legacy for future generations – an archival ‘snapshot’ of an art form all too often lost to the ravages of time.

Matthew Houston, ‘Torso’, commissioned for the exhibition. Photo: Paul Abbitt / Courtesy of NMMC

“It is estimated that about one in five of the UK population (and one in three young adults) is tattooed,” explains the show’s social history curator Amber Druce. “And yet, whilst the visibility of tattooing in contemporary culture may feel like something new, tattoos and tattoo art have always held a significant place in Britain’s history and historical imagination.”

Some of Jessie Knight’s details. Courtesy of Neil Hopkins Thomas. Photo: Luke Hayes

The exhibition explores this history in depth and shows that, while the word ‘tattoo’ may have come into the English language following Captain Cook’s travels to the South Pacific, this was not the start of the story of British tattooing.

While showcasing the rich maritime heritage of tattoos, the exhibition also shows how people from all areas of society have always been tattooed. From ruffians to royalty, from sailors to socialites and from pilgrims to punks, tattoos have been etched into bodies throughout British history.

“With the huge popularity of tattoos in the UK, it’s easy to forget that a lot of people are still very judgemental about them,” Amber continues. “There’s a negative stigma from some people who are making assumptions about promiscuity, criminal records, and life style choices. Some of those preconceptions are based on the fear of something they don’t understand. This exhibition helps explain people’s motivations for getting tattoos and shows that it’s a real art form with an incredible history.

More of Jessie Knight’s beautiful and innovative designs. Courtesy of Neil Hopkins Thomas. Photo: Luke Hayes

The exhibition is guest curated by Dr Matt Lodder, lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. Dr Lodder adds: “Whilst British and global museums have had a long-standing interest in Western tattooing, none have ever managed to fully combine serious academic research with access to the vast but hidden troves of tattoo ephemera kept closely guarded in private collections.

“In this exhibition, we have finally been able to match the most current and cutting-edge research on British tattoo history – which challenges all the most deeply-held perceptions about the practice, its origins, its extent, and its reception – with unparalleled access to the true custodians of tattooing’s history: the artists and their families who have cared for these objects and their stories over decades.

“Tattooing is a magical, romantic, exciting and often-misunderstood art form, and we hope that our exhibition will communicate some of that magic to visitors.”

Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed runs at M Shed until June 16. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/british-tattoo-art-revealed

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