Human Marks

Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art explores convergences between tattoo culture and global contemporary art. Presenting fifteen artists who also tattoo, the lavishly illustrated publication unpacks how the ethics, strategies and concerns of tattooing shape the artists’ studio practices in experimental and revelatory ways.

Graphic traditions meets the latest artistic creations: With essays, artist profiles and interviews, Human Marks presents the full creative spectrum of artists who maintain both tattoo and studio practices to ask what the world of fine art can learn from today’s tattoo community. With a range of surprising media – from paintings made with human blood to wearable works in silicone and even perfumery – themes of ritual, ethics and identity tie together the materially dynamic, unexpected and challenging artwork featured in Human Marks.

Artists: Kaur Alia Ahmed, Oz Bardos, Makoto Chi, Nassim Dayoub, Evan Paul English, Gesiye, Don Ed Hardy, Ciara Havishya, Dr. Lakra, Duke Riley, Miller Robinson, Tamara Santibañez, Lyric Shen, Jayna Won. Additional contributions by: Kaur Alia Ahmed, Makoto Chi, Nassim Dayoub, Don Ed Hardy, Tamara Santibañez, Fiona Smith, and Stevie Soares, Marcia Tucker, and V. Vale.