Art
Tattoo legend Ed Hardy reflects on a life in ink
Deeper than Skin — As he opens his first-ever museum retrospective this month, we speak to the artist who helped take tattoos mainstream.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Tattoo
Culture
The extraordinary rise of Japan's unlikely tattoo hero
The art of intimacy — Horiren 1st is one of the world’s most sought-after tattoo artists, celebrated for keeping the ancient Japanese method of Tebori alive. But in a country where body art is considered taboo, her journey to the top hasn’t been easy.
Written by: Michael Magers
Culture
The architect who threw it all away to become a tattoo artist
How to make it on your own — Silvia Castro Pérez pursued her dream job as an architect in Spain until it felt like a creative dead-end. Then she moved to Berlin and taught herself how to tattoo, opening up a new world of creative possibility.
Written by: Alex King
Art
Dark, twisted rituals: The artist using human skin as his canvas
Body of Reverbs — Oozing fetishism and violence, Michele Servadio’s strange tattooing rituals are being performed around the world; creating spectacles that fuse art, music, and exorcism.
Written by: Jonas Henmo
Culture
The Virginia tattoo artist transforming lives by inking over scars
Tat for Tit — Amy Black’s tattoo parlour in Richmond, Virginia helps clients with scars from illness or surgery reclaim their bodies with needles and ink.
Written by: Ryan Mcmeekin
Activism
Why I'm giving my customers Planned Parenthood themed tattoos
From Where I Stand — One Brooklyn-based, immigrant-run tattoo parlour is transforming bodies into spaces of protest for freedom of choice in the age of Trump, raising cold hard cash for Planned Parenthood in the process.
Written by: Burak Moreno, Fleur Noire Tattoo Parlour
Culture
A brief history of the British tattoo
How we got inked — From high class beginnings to the myths of inked up criminals, as a new exhibition opens in Cornwall, tattoo historian Dr Matt Lodder plots out a history of British body art.
Written by: Michael Segalov
Photography
Under the skin of Britain's facial tattoo community
The people beneath the ink — Mark Leaver's photography project looks at facial tattoos; a misunderstood and stereotyped group, already a niche within a subculture.
Written by: Alex King
Culture
The NYC doctor changing lives by removing gang tattoos for free
From teardrops, swastikas and gang insignia to fresh starts — Dr David Ores is on a quest to change lives by removing bad tattoos from former gang members, ex-convicts and victims of human trafficking - free of charge.
Written by: Alfred Rinaldi
Art
The Scandinavian tattoo shop handpoking black humour
Deepwood Tattoo — Chris Magnusson of Deepwood Tattoo talks DIY tattoo guns and getting paid to draw stupid things in Northern Europe.
Written by: Joshua Gabert-Doyon
Art
Artist Clayton Patterson on 20 years of the tattoo fair that changed Europe
Two decades of Wildstyle — When Wildstyle began in 1995, European tattoo culture was barely visible. Rebel artist and photographer Clayton Patterson explains how two decades of touring with Wildstyle has helped win the culture the respect it deserves.
Written by: Clayton Patterson