On view until mid-September at the Compendium Gallery in Melbourne, Australia, is the second edition of Permanent: Art by Tattoo Artists curated by Ella V Reid, an annual exhibition celebrating the artistic skill and creative genius of local and international tattoo artists.
Two Melbourne tattoo greats, Kris Sunkee and Insamnia have come together to create this famous tattoo studio, Compendium Gallery, and as the name suggests, the space is also home to a commercial gallery that is now a staple of the art scene in Melbourne, Australia. Located in the stylish High Street district of Armadale, the space welcomes all kind of creatives. From artists of the canvas to those who create iconic pieces of work on skin. With artists from every skill level and different corners of the world, Compendium Gallery is honoured to display this cohort of amazing artists.
Though a commercial gallery, this show’s main objective was to bring together the tattoo community to showcase the overall talent these artists have when given pure creative freedom. It is often believed that many, if not all tattoo artists’ work exists on either the screens of their iPads and then transferred into the deep layers of their client’s skin.
With some of the biggest names in tattooing including Benjamin Laukis, Aaron Norton and Adrian Dominic, in this year’s edition, many artists have focused on the portrait, whether this includes a contemporary interpretation of the classical female portrait or a portrait of an iconic comic book character. Many of the artists in the show are known for their portraiture in their tattoos, so when given pure creative freedom it is quite interesting to see them fall into what they know so well.
A stand out portrait is by tattoo icon and owner of Silverletter Gallery in Greece, Benjamin Laukis. The portrait titled Flesh & Steel is an oil on linen painting in his familiar style of subject matter for this tattoo artist. A portrait of a dominatrix holding a blade symmetrically across her torso. An incredible realist tattooer and painter, Laukis, as many great artists before him, has mastered the ability to manipulate light.
The painting has this incredible directional crimson light pointing upwards against the figure. This, alongside a black backdrop and the porcelain skin of the subject, create a sort of glow which may suggest the painting is backlit somehow. This manipulation of light gives the painting this strong, almost threatening sense to the figure whilst her gaze and body language are so seductively inviting.
Another stand-out piece is by Victorian artist, Cody Charleston located at Static Ink. A very experienced tattoo artist and emerging oil painter, it is easy to see why Charleston was chosen to be in this show. Heavily inspired by the Italian Renaissance and all the iconic pieces in art history it produced, the ideologies around History are a key theme in Charleston’s work Flea Market. Depicting two realistic elders, holding gaming console controllers with one being from a Playstation 1 and the other a Nintendo 64. Part of a larger body of work, Charleston has tapped into one of the most powerful manners we as humans can easily enjoy. Our sense of nostalgia.
The classical way in which these two controllers are presented is why our eye is drawn to them. A style of painting that suggests it could be from the 1500s with the subjects holding gaming controllers from the 1990s – 2000s is a combination that encompasses the ideology of history as a whole. The viewer is presented with two juxtaposing eras in time in one image, which not only makes them reflect on the passage of time but also invites a dialogue between the two different points in history.
