Tag: paris

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Mondial du Tatouage

Mondial du Tatouage is known as one of the world’s largest conventions with over 30,000 visitors and over 300 artists. In this post our Italian contributor Ilaria Pauletti shares her first time at Mondial du Tatouage convention in Paris… 

3_View from the top
This was my first time in Paris and my first time at Mondial du Tatouage. A dream come true!
It was Friday 4th March and obviously I woke up very early, feeling pretty nervous as usual but also very excited for my upcoming appointment with Rodrigo Souto– I just couldn’t wait.

The Grand Halle de La Villette was very easy to reach, located just 200 m from its own metro station, which was great and made the whole trip a lot easier. Giving me loads of time to walk around and see just how many people were attending the convention.

6_Hannah and GuyHannah Sykes and Guy Le Tattooer 

The doors opened at 12 and there was a huge queue at the main entrance, while waiting, I met a lovely Sardinian couple of tattoo collectors who had an appointment with Dane from Inkamatic – Trieste, and a German girl, Eva, who was waiting to get tattooed by Samuele Briganti. She got a beautiful black and grey lady head on her arm.

I ran to get into the convention, powered by excitement,luckily the map of hundreds of booths was right in front of us and I could immediately get to Rodrigo’s one.
He made me feel at ease and he totally got what I wanted on my skin. After he drew the design onto my arm by hand and I had a look in the mirror we were ready to go.

I have to say the pain was pretty bearable but that elbow/ditch spot was actually really for me. And my friend Marina, who was there with me, can confirm the struggle was real!
Three hours later my arm was like a giant sausage, and then I could walk around the convention.

2_Peony by Rodrigo

Ilaria’s peony

I met a lot of the artists I have been tattooed by, for instance Guen Douglas, Morg Armeni, Arianna Settembrino. They were all working hard! I also saw local tattooists who were also very busy, like Mikael de Poissy and Guy Le Tatooer. The booths were a lot larger than ones I have seen at other conventions, meaning that both the tattooist and client could enjoy themselves with no awkward positioning of limbs and machine.

I treated myself to lots of amazing prints by some of my favourite artists, it was really hard to decide what to buy and what to not. The main stage showcased the Best of Day contests, with some great judges including; Kari Barba, Filip Leu, Bill Salmon and Luke Atkinson.

1_Yallzee and Roberto

Yall Quiñones getting tattooed by Roberto Borsi

I hope to be back and I can’t wait to see what’s next, because tattoo conventions are made of this: good company, quality tattoos and a great location!

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Interview with tattoo artist: Johnny Gloom

Johnny Gloom is a 23-year-old tattoo artist who works out of a private studio in Paris. Here at Things&Ink we are memorised by Johnny’s simple, yet elegant style and her sophisticatedly seductive women have captivated us. We chatted to Johnny to find out how she became a tattooist and what inspires her…

How long have you been tattooing? One year.

How did you get into the industry? Do you have a background in art? Not really, I was studying communication and advertising in Paris, but it was the wrong direction for me. One day I fell in love with tattoos. I now find myself here in the world of tattoos.

How would you describe your style? I don’t know actually. Minimalist and black.

What inspires you? Absolutely everything inspires me, but mostly emotions. I’m very sensitive to my own emotions. We are all humans and we have common emotions, if it’s about me, someone else too. Love, hate, violence, passion, sex.  Love is the burden of humanity, everyone recognizes it.

What is it about women that means you to chose them as a subject?
I love women, they are the most beautiful things I think. I particularly like Parisian girls, I find them very elegant. I love watching them, their positions, their hands, how they smoke cigarettes, and when they are sad.

Do you admire other artists? Are you influenced by any? I admire lot of artists and tattoos artists. But I try to be influenced by artists who don’t create or have tattoos,  for example photographers Helmut Newton, Steve Klein and Guy Bourdin. They make things that are different.

Do you have any guest spots or conventions planned? Maybe, I have planned nothing. I salvage and I love my freedom.

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Mondial du Tatouage 2015

The International Paris Tattoo Convention, or as the French say Mondial du Tatouage, was held at the Grande Halle de la Villette from the 6th to the 8th March 2015. The venue was vast and for one weekend only filled with internationally renowned tattoo artists creating works of art on the skin… Unfortunately we couldn’t attend the event ourselves (maybe next year), but we enlisted a couple of photographers to document the event for us.

Photos by Arnaud Sommier using analog

 

Photos by Katha

Edgar Allan Poe tattoo by Ivy Saruzy and the Jesus dinosaur by Debora Iglesias

 

 

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Tattooist and the Tattooed, An Exhibition in Paris

From the origins of body art 3,000 years ago to contemporary artwork, a new Paris exhibition from HEY magazine and tattoo artist Tin-Tin charts the history and significance of tattoos throughout civilization.

Tatoueurs Tatoues runs from 6 May 2014  until 18 October 2015 at the  Musée du Quai Branly, 37 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris.

The exhibition is curated by journalists Julien and Anne, and includes photographs, tools, skulls and pieces of tattooed human skin.

“Tattooing is part of the common heritage of most of humanity, we wanted to do this exhibition for a long time because we feel it’s important to show that tattooing has a real history and is a pure product of humanity. There’s not a place in the world where mankind has been that has not used tattooing … It’s both artisan and artistic. In the past there was a fear of tattoos and people would hide them. Today attitudes have changed. People used to do it because they wanted to identify themselves as different to make a statement, but today it’s become fashionable and the opposite holds true. People want to be different so they don’t want tattoos.” Julien.

The exhibition explores the art of tattooing from around the world and maps the tattoo revolution. From traditional styles and techniques to the more mainstream and trendy ideas of tattooing.

All images from Vogue Hommes International