20-02-2015

Tattoo exhibition at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg

Tattoos on exhibition at the art and tradecraft museum in Hamburg, a city steeped in the tradition of this art.

Tattoos on exhibition at the art and tradecraft museum in Hamburg, a city steeped in the tradition of this art. An exhibition investigating the reciprocal influence of art, traditional tattoo art and visual design.

Tattoos are to art a bit like Brutalism to architecture – everyone has an opinion, they leave no-one unresponsive and they’re often cause for debate, not least between children and parents – but in the last few decades, using the human skin as a canvas has gained many enthusiasts, young and old alike.

The exhibition at Hamburg’s art and trade museum (MKG) remains faithful to the tradition of this delightful museum, which isn't just about the purely aesthetic part of tattoos but also focuses on artistic, artisanal and culture-specific issues with photographs, woodcuts, paintings, sculptures, video clips and audio installations, stencils and historical specimens of tattooed skin, tattoo equipment ranging from simple needles to intricate precision machines, colours and pigments, to also convey the artisan tradition of this craft in practice.

“Tattoo” is especially relevant to Hamburg, boasting a long tradition of the tattoo scene, particularly in the busy port of the late 19^th century. Historical photos which have never before appeared in public document the typical tattoos of the working class in Hamburg.

One of the oldest decorative arts in the world has found a contemporary show to bring the art of tattooing to the general public, where “giving life to the images is a visual action that can set up an inseparable relationship between the subject and their presence in that scene”, to quote Paolo Schianchi in his essay “L'immagine è un oggetto. Fondamenti di visual marketing con storytelling”. On human skin even more than anywhere else, because, whatever people may say: tattoos last for a lifetime, as you can also read in the exhibition booklet.

(Christiane Bürklein)

TATTOO exhibition at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
produced by the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur.
Exhibition concept: Susanna Kumschick
project management (Winterthur): Susanna Kumschick, Markus Rigert
project management (Hamburg): Dennis Conrad, Simon Klingler
specialist assistance: Beatrix Jeanneret, Mario Pellin, Ole Wittmann
exhibition design: René Hillebrand
Dates: 13^th February to 6^th September 2015
Information: http://www.mkg-hamburg.de/
Images: Exhibition photos by Michaela Hille
Worker: Karl Paul Johann Frank, Hamburg, 1880-1890 © Hamburg Museum, Sammlung Fotografie
Face: Ma Hla Oo aus Laytu-Chin, Nördliches Rakhine, Burma Foto: Jens Uwe Parkitny
Arms: Tattoos by Gwendal & Karl Marc Foto: Gwendal & Karl Marc © Gwendal & Karl Marc
Drawing: ohne Titel, 2004 Bleistift auf Papier, 29,5 x 20,5 cm Privatsammlung, Österrreich © Fumie Sasabuchi
Historical Japanese Tattoo, 1880-1890 Albuminpapier, handkoloriert, 27 x 21 cm © Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Coloured Tattoo Chriss Dettmer Ohne Titel, Studio: The Black Hole, Hamburg, 2014 © Chriss Dettmer
Historical Japanese image Tengan Isobyôe und Yajin Ran, 1830-1845 Farbholzschnitt, Papier, 37 x 25 cm © Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
The End: Timm Ulrichs The End, 1970, 1981, 1997 Augenlid-Tätowierung, Inkjet-Print auf Leinwand auf Keilrahmen, 150 x 150 cm © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2015

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