Recently I read the above article which made me feel both glad and
annoyed. The piece is about the rise of
tattoos into the realm of Visual Art. Considered as an underground folkloric practice for a couple
of centuries, tattoos are apparently being given artistic recognition
by capital A Art. As
a tattooed art curator I felt satisfied about the
fact something I’ve always thought has been finally understood but, on
the other hand, realizing that the Art World had to wait for tattoos to
become a mainstream trend to recognize their artistic value, made me
quite sick.
I got my first tattoo when I was 17. Thirteen years later I do have more
than one ink…Through this period every time I got a new piece I was
carefully selecting the artist and the style, with the intention of
adorning my body with beautiful art, suited for me 100%. At some point I
started feeling like a collector and my body my museum. And let me tell
you, some of those works definitely reach the prices of some visual art
I display in the exhibitions I curate.
