Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed to be unveiled at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall

Opening in Falmouth on March 17 and running until January 7, 2018, this highly anticipated exhibition will offer a genuinely ground-breaking and comprehensive history of British tattooing, featuring cutting edge designers, leading academics and major private collectors to tell a story that challenges long-standing myths and pre-conceptions about tattooing when it comes to class, gender and age, while at the same time giving a voice to and celebrating the astonishingly rich artistic heritage of tattooing as an art form in the UK.

Showcasing the work of major tattoo artists from George Burchett, via the Bristol Tattoo Club, to Alex Binnie and Lal Hardy this will be the largest gathering of real objects and original tattoo artwork ever assembled in the United Kingdom. The exhibition features items from three of the most important private collections of tattoo material in Britain, providing a rare opportunity to display original artwork and artefacts not otherwise on public display. The exhibition also delves into previously unseen private archives that reveal hidden histories, including the incredible real story of Britain’s pioneering female tattoo artist, Jessie Knight.

Tattoos are a living and uniquely three dimensional form of art. The Museum has responded to this by commissioning an innovative installation which will literally bring the art off the gallery wall to create a ‘sculptural map’ of British tattoo art today.

The 100 Hands Project, curated by Alice Snape of Things and Ink magazine, is based around 100 silicone arms, each tattooed with an original design by 100 of the leading tattoo artists working across the UK. As a whole, the quality and diversity of this work is astonishing. This exhibit represents a major achievement for any Museum, and will create an important artistic legacy for future generations – an archival ‘snapshot’ of a form of art all too often lost to the ravages of time.

The exhibition also includes three major contemporary art commissions from three tattoo artists working in three very different tattoo traditions.

The exhibition explores this history in depth and shows that while the word tattoo may have come into the English language following Captain Cook’s voyage, this was not the start of the story of British tattooing. It will feature over 400 original artworks, photographs and historic artifacts.

Richard Doughty, Director of NMMC said: “The NMMC is delighted to have this opportunity to bring together the quality of the objects on show in this ground-breaking exhibition to the region and to have spearheaded this unique collaboration between national organisations, collectors, artists and leading academics. By championing exhibitions like Tattoo, the museum is positioning itself at the forefront of challenging preconceptions about what we can and should be curating and collecting. We are creating a museum of the future for the next generation of visitors.”