Tattooing has been practiced since prehistory, yet it has been only in the past decade or so that the art and practice of tattooing has moved from the margins towards the mainstream of American culture. The exhibition Under the Skin: Tattoos and Contemporary Culture brought together objects, photographs, tattoo ephemera, flash (tattooists' drawings) and contemporary artwork to consider the effect and popularity of tattoo imagery and culture on America today.

The exhibition comprised a selection of images and objects from various international sources, including Japanese, Native American, and Maori tattoos, which demonstrate the diversity of historical sources; a look at motifs and developments in American tattoo design since the 1930s as seen in the work of the most esteemed tattoo artists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, including Thom deVita, Kandi Everett, Don Ed Hardy, Scott Harrison, Sailor Jerry, Ruth Marten, and Paul Rogers and art by contemporary artists whose work incorporates tattoo imagery or who consider tattooing to be a cultural phenomenon, including Nan Goldin, Kay Rosen, Thomas Woodruff and Sherri Woods. Western North Carolina tattoo artists and tattoo photography opportunities were included with the exhibition and associated public programs.

The exhibition was organized by the Asheville Art Museum and Curated by Ron Platt and Consulting Curator Ward Mintz. Under the Skin: Tattoos and Contemporary Culture was sponsored in part by Greenlife Grocery.

Image Credits:

Jay Chastain,Under the Skin Drawing (Rose of No Man’s Land), 2006, ink and liquid acrylic on board, 14.25 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Empire Tattoo, Asheville, NC.

Marc Joseph, Joseph, Essex County, Massachusetts, Edition 5/6, 2001, gelatin silver print, 24 x 24 inches.
Courtesy of the Artist.