Tattoo Life January/February 2024

Cover girl: Peggy Gou

Peggy Gou (real name Kim Min-ji) is the latest big thing to arrive from South Korea: DJ, record producer (her label is called Gudu Records), designer thanks to the creation of the label Kirin (which in Korean means “giraffe”), and a firebrand in campaigns to combat sexism and promote equality. Let’s meet her, artist/entrepreneur/global icon who has the whole world dancing to her hit ‘(It goes like) Nanana’ and, in the meantime, keeps working on her debut album.

Chat at the top with Alexey Mashov

He comes from the magical Nineties, wears cool shades, promises he’ll be coming out soon with a video game called Turbo Hood and has no intention of ever stopping. Alexey Mashkov, also known simply as “Mashkow” is enamoured of the cultural scene in New York and deeply attracted to anything that can be defined as art. Tattoos included, seeing as how he has invented a particular style of his own which unites the urban grit of graffiti, exquisite colour and the best of Realism.

Harrison Daniel: crossing point of opposites

Equilibrium in contrast is the forte of Melbourne-based Australian artist Harrison Daniel. Starting out in Realism and black he added a touch of Norse mythology, Neo Traditional and Japanese until he reached what is now his powerful crossing point of styles. 

Heroes and characters from Japanese culture of Vietnamese Horituan

Contrast from the essential colours black and red and dynamic like the Japanese manga: this is the work of Vietnamese tattooist Horituan who takes the characters and stories of Japanese tradition as the starting point for developing his pieces.

Pitta KKM: Korean tradition modernised

Tattoo artist Pitta gives to the classic art of his country, Korea, a fresh twist mixing Korean tradition with western or modern elements. It is like that the traditional art of Dancheong meets the Buddhist art and Michelangelo… And that’s why he likes to describe his work as a “modernised Korean tradition”.

Poesis, the life of others

Meet Poesis, the tattooist and poetic artist from Hamburg who uses flowers to express thoughts and tattoo to breathe life into the dreams and stories of others. She let her creativity flow, to encounter and embrace emotions, whether her own or of others, in order to present them in the form of art. 

Portfolio: the visual narrative of beauty of Max Blanke

See the portfolio dedicated to the German photographer Max Blanke and his beautiful tattooed models, protagonists of his images and of his photo shoots

Welcome to the German Skull Tattoos of Bad Vilbel

We are in Bad Vilbel, a town outside Frankfurt, to visit Skull Tattoo, a collective currently made up of six artists coordinated by Fabian who opened the shop ten years ago together with Jorge, founding a hub of Realism where they specialise in cover ups and where there’s a major focus on the black of Maori and Polynesian tattoo.

Tattoo Mix: A selection of the best in every style… and much more!