Earlier this year at the 2015 Women Of the World Poetry Slam, a four day poetry festival, Desireé Dallagiacomo was ranked 3rd. Amongst Desireé’s performances was her spoken word poem ‘Thighs Say’, in which she negotiates the space within society that her thighs fit in, the places they cannot go and the things that they can do. Ultimately she concludes that they are her’s and her’s alone.
She also performed ‘Shave Me’ a spoken word poem in which she smashes society’s ridiculous standards connected to the beauty of women. With a hilarious and angry look at American culture and its need for women to remove their body hair.
Sunday 6th December
Doors open 12-5pm
£3 entry fee
Epic Dalston, 13-15 Newington Road, N16 8BH, London
Sunday 6th December marks the return of London’s most exciting and innovative alternative market, London Below is London’s other underground.
After the success of the show’s debut this summer, the alternative market returns just in time for Christmas with an array of items and stalls catering for all tastes and fetishes.
Think weird and wonderful, dark and grungy and maybe even a bit of naughtiness thrown in for good measure. The market will play host to some unique workshops including; jewellery making with Black Heart Creatives and ‘Hurts so good- a beginners guide to flogging’, an workshop run by Kink Craft that’ll teach you all you need to know about flogging and more…
Special Signs by photographer Katarzyna Mirczak documents a collection of tattoos housed by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jagiellonian University since 1872. Katarzyna photographed the collection creating a harrowing series, that closely looks at the lives of prisoners and the ways they wished to mark their bodies. The photographs are accompanied by the first name, age and cause of death of the prisoner, but their surname is not mentioned. By keeping some parts of their lives private, Katarzyna hoped to not completely expose the subjects.
The sixty skin pieces were removed from deceased prisoners in Kraków and are preserved in formaldehyde. Many of the tattoos were done in prison by other prisoners and tattoo machines made from objects they came across, including clips and pins. The pigment was often made from charcoal, cork and mixed with water, urine or fat to create a crude ink. It was forbidden for the Polish prisoners to tattoo themselves and many of the tattoos are symbolic of the wearer’s opinion of prison or signify things to other prisoners.
For example; an image of a mouth, usually red and open signified that the wearer was a homosexual. A dagger with a snake twisted around it shows revengeful intentions.
Ruth Knapp, 38 is an artist, blogger and mother from Norwich, we chatted to her to find more about the kitschy colourful work she creates…
Do you have a background in art? I studied art at an adult education centre a few years ago, up to foundation level, I felt the need to do something artistic, and as my children were growing up I wanted to give them something to aspire to. I’m a single parent and I didn’t want to just be mum any more. They’re really proud of what I’ve achieved and love seeing my art about, that for me makes all the hard work worth it. What inspires you? I’m inspired by urban art, pop art, graffiti and anything kitsch. I have a collection of 60s animal ornaments and every bit of wall space in my kitchen is covered in kitsch pictures, mirrors and brass plates, some of them are tasteful but mostly they’re very tacky. I love it, I call it my Kitschen! Are there any artists you admire, do they influence your work? I love Andy Warhol, I know he’s an obvious one but I think he just got it so right, I recently saw his collection of cookie jars in the Magnificent Obsessions exhibition and it was clear we have the same taste in pottery! I also adore Pure Evil, his work is simple but powerful, you can tell his work instantly, his portraits are stunning. Most of my work is pretty happy, I like to make pictures that make people smile, but on the streets I’m going to start to be a bit darker. How do you create your pieces? I use stencils to create my work, I use spray paint on the streets and at home I use acrylic and stipple through the stencils to create smaller works which I can then scan and play about with on Photoshop. I love that they can look quite graphic but also still have a painterly style. I’ve recently worked on some large scale murals which were really fun and I enjoy painting live at events. How did you start making art? I started making art in 2013 I totally blagged my way onto a Btec I just turned up to an open day without being interviewed and they were like “see you Monday” I was pretty scared they’d see I had no idea what I was doing, but the first lesson happened to be pop art stencil cutting and I thought, hang on I can do this! I’m not sure if my skill comes from thinking that that day or if it’s just a coincidence, maybe if that first lesson had been oil painting it would all be very different. I passed the Btec with distinction and went on to do the Foundation. The pineapples were my final piece for my Foundation, people seemed to love them so I made more, they are where it all started so they’ll always be my signature. They have been nicknamed ‘Knapples’.
Can you tell us about your tattoos? I have loads of tattoos, I’ve pretty much run out of space now which is a shame as there’s so many great artists I’d love to have work by, I get envious of people who have loads of free skin! I do have some really nice work though, I’m really happy with my hands I left them until last and I’m glad I did, I’ve got two great pieces by Wink Evans and I can see them all the time so it’s good that I love them. Follow Ruth on Instagram for more art work and kitsch.
Cheshire born and now London based, photographer Danny Baldwin explored a range of art forms, from drawing and drama to music and modelling, before finding his niche as a photographer. It was actually while modelling that Danny discovered a world where his creative vision could be channelled by flipping sides from in front to behind the lens. Influenced by fashion and counter-culture, Danny’s style mixes colours, tones and textures, and emphasises the power of beauty and shapes.
In his new exhibition, Skin Deep, Danny documents a seismic mood change within the fashion industry that has seen agencies shift from representing only models with no tattoos, or those that are easily hidden, to building entire campaigns around elaborately inked individuals. Encouraging acceptance and celebrating individuality, freedom of expression and creativity, Skin Deep features 100 black and white nude images of professional tattooed male models shot against a stark black, signature background. We found out more in this interview with Danny…
> What attracted you to photographing tattooed models? Why?
The underlying message is to encourage acceptance and freedom of expression, Skin Deep has been created over the course of a year to show the versatility of beauty and ink, and is something I could relate to myself. I needed it to be something that I understood, had knowledge about and was part of my life – and I wanted to represent and celebrate the rise of the tattooed model and its acceptance, slowly, into the fashion industry.
RICKIHALL@NEVS
> What is your background? Have you always photographed people?
Yes I did a general photography course at college in Cheshire when I first started as a photographer and this covered all types of photography, when I was doing landscapes etc i used to have imagine people there to be able to create the image. I decided very quickly one of the main reasons I am a photographer is because of the people, so I continued my studies at London College of Fashion studying fashion photography
> Why only men in the project?
I decided when I started this as a personal project that It had to be relatable to myself, it had to say something from me and be pure to my vision and I felt – as a tattooed male myself – I would be able to better understand the body of the male and their process of thought. I want to represent the male models in a way I haven’t always been able to represent them due to client limitations.
MATTHEWMORRIS@BMA
> The portraits are in black and white… is there a particular reason for this?
Due to the scale of the project and the timeframe of over a year of shooting, I wanted to create something distinctive that showcased the models and their tattoos in a consistent way and I felt this was the best way to do it. I shoot a lot in black and white as I love shape, line, texture and movement and really feel this can be explored a lot deeper with a black and white image.
BUD&AIDEN@BODYLONDON
> Are you tattooed yourself?
I do have a collection of tattoos and plan to have more done in the future months and years. I have my left top arm , finger, both feet, all my toes and most recently I have had the title of this project “skin deep” on my inner lip which was done at One By One tattoo studio in soho, London. All my tattoos have a deep rooted and significant meaning to me and are connected to parts of my job as a photographer, people who have impacted my life and the evolution of myself. They look quite macabre but they are more my own personal affirmations.
> What are your hopes for this exhibition? How many portraits does it include?
The exhibition will feature over 100 portraits of the selected agency signed male models, which I hope will showcase their diversity. I want to show a wider audience something that is visually stimulating and celebrates how these people are breaking the mould. They are being true to themselves in an elite industry and expressing who they are through the medium of tattooing, which I think is an incredible art form and I don’t know why it has taken so long for the two worlds of tattooing and fashion to collide and be more accepted in the mainstream. I think the bigger picture is about encouraging acceptance and celebrating individuality, freedom of expression and creativity.
Danny has just reached his fundraising target on Kickstarter, so it looks like there will be a physical exhibition of Skin Deep in London next year. Look out for updates from @thingsandink and @skindeeplondon.
