Clemens Hahn, let’s call it Traditional power and expressiveness

The German tattoo artist who works at ‘Truly Yours Tattoo’ in Mannheim is also a talented painter and the organizer (together with his business partner Thomas) of the festival of the same name.

Hi Clemens, would you like to tell us about yourself?
I began my apprenticeship as a tattoo artist at the age of 19 after graduating from high school, which is now almost 18 years ago. Partly out of a sense of aimlessness and partly out of protest, not wanting to participate in the system.

At that time, I was already heavily tattooed and had made several contacts with tattoos through skateboarding, punk concerts, etc. This was also around the time when ‘Miami Ink’ with Chris Garver started, which gave me a whole new perspective.

Why the Traditional style?
For me, Traditional tattoos have always been the style that has had the most impact on me due to their simplification and the resulting power and expressiveness. I also always appreciated that many people simply didn’t understand the visual language of Traditional tattoos, which helped in my sense of differentiation, even though I started with Realistic tattoos.

Yours isn’t just hard and pure Traditional, is it? You sometimes filter it through the Japanese style and there are also metaphysical references in your works…
I now try to make my drawings and tattoos as intuitive as possible, so I don’t distort my own style too much. But that often means breaking rules and forgetting things I’ve learned.

The Japanese style is, for me, the most mature, but also the one that requires the most knowledge.

I love the visual language and sometimes adopt stylistic elements without claiming to call it Japanese tattooing.

Let’s talk about some of your tattoos – What did these early 20th century pin ups do to you? Between snakes, dragons and devils they always seem to be at the mercy of some danger…
I love it when the motifs tell a kind of story and create a narrative tension, like the dynamic between a powerful being, such as a dragon with all its structures, and in contrast, a female figure who has control over it with her femininity. It’s less about putting the female figures in a compromising position in the designs. (smiles)

If you could ask a single question to a great exponent of the Traditional style (past or present), who would be him and what exactly would you ask him?
Spontaneously, I would ask Rudy Fritsch what it took to become so free and unrestrained in his designs.

Instead of asking you about your place of work – the ‘Truly Yours Tattoo’ – I would like to have some more information about the ‘Truly Yours Tattoo Fest’ that you will organize this year at the end of June. How many years has this beautiful artistic adventure existed?
The ‘Truly Yours Tattoo Fest’ (IG: @trulyyourstattoofest) took place for the first time last summer and was a huge success for all of us. The idea, from Thomas (my business partner) and me, was to create an event based on the concept of a high-quality convention with a small, familial vibe to give something back to the community and tattooing.

The idea was to focus the event on what we consider important and present it in a program that could also make it easier for people who might not have been interested before to engage. There were numerous lectures, film presentations, Alex Snelgrove (IG: @snelgrove) curated an incredible art exhibition on-site, podcasts, graffiti jams, and so on. Additionally, we organized a trip to a nearby wine region on the Monday after the event, to which all tattoo artists and participants were invited, providing an opportunity for exchange outside of the working context.

Will you repeat the experience also in 2025?
A little teaser: there won’t be an event this year, but we are already in talks for 2026, so stay tuned!

Do we also want to talk about your painting style? I would say that – as it should be – it differs a lot from what you tattoo on skin…
I really enjoy painting without being bound by the limiting factors that the medium of skin imposes. I think it provides a great counterpoint to the often precise and cerebral nature of tattooing. But I also feel like the freedom of hand in painting is now partially reflected in my tattoos.

I love thinking in shapes and areas and deconstructing familiar things to the point of abstraction.

Furthermore, I am a big fan of haptics and thick applications; I like it when an image almost invites you to touch it. I am currently building my new studio directly below our tattoo studio, which will allow me to spend much more time painting in the future. There will definitely be more to see.

Who are the painters you look at with the most interest and respect?
I like surrealist painters like Ernst Fuchs and H.R. Giger, but I am also a big fan of Wes Lang. It’s hard for me to limit myself to specific people because I like to gather a variety of impressions, but I also don’t want my own style to be too influenced by them.