Somerset House - Time: Tattoo Art Today

Time: Tattoo Art Today is a free exhibition at Somerset House that presents the original artworks of the worlds most dominant tattoo artists, including Ed Hardy, Horiyoshi III, Paul Booth and Mister Cartoon. This collection is curated by tattoo artist Claudia De Sabe and publisher Miki Vialetto. This exhibition runs from the 3rd July - 5th October

Each artist has created new works in accordance to the theme Time for this exhibition. The theme Time has been approached differently by each artist. Some focus on the idea of life and death. Life has been popularly replicated through the use of inkings such as butterflies, blossoms and religious items. Whereas death is shown through images of skulls. 

Henk 'Hanky Panky', ACBC and Mike the Athens, Endless lifetimes of Gnosis

The images above are examples of religious iconography demonstrated in tattoo art. These pieces resemble the close relationship between life and death that is frequently shown through tattoos.

Sarah Carter, Gravitational force

Thomas Hooper, Time as a ghost, always eroding the moments

These images are demonstrative of the popular skull motif, one of the most popular choice of tattoo designs today. 

The idea of time itself and the significance of time has also been represented in this display. The images below resemble time as an object and the power that time has to heal all wounds. Time is shown as constant, a cycle that never ends but instead is constantly flowing. 

Guy Aitchison describes the image Zero hour as "a perfection of my current situation, where I am perpetually pressed for time, always fighting deadlines, with too many moving parts to manage."

Guy Aitchison, Zero hour and Nicholas Baxter, Heals all wounds

The exhibition was short and sweet, a perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon if you're stuck for things to do. However, the collection would benefit from providing greater detail surrounding the evolution of the practice and the practice itself, such as the change in use of tools, methods and dominant themes according to time and place. It might also be useful and interesting to include a short biography of the artists and their involvement in the tattoo industry. This would help to contextualise the images and enable visitors to understand further the importance and significance of this growing and highly popular phenomena.