Design Museum: ‘FOREVER, The New Tattoo’ by Gestalten

Title: Forever: The New Tattoo
Type: Book
Publisher: Gestalten
Editors: R. Klanten, F. Schulze
Preface by Matt Lodder
Features by Nicholas Schonberger
Release Date: August 2012
Format: 22.5 x 29 cm, 256 pages, full color, hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 978-3-89955-442-7
Catalog Price: €39.90 / $49.95 / £37.50

Design museum presents to you ‘Forever’ a book that explores how today’s tattoo culture is strongly influenced by art, fashion, and contemporary visual culture as well as traditional tattoo art—often in surprising ways.

Although tattoos are quite in the mainstream these days, there are still a few tattooers who like to move against the grain and push the limits of their art.

Like a personal guide into the uncharted realm of the ‘‘new tattoo underground’’, Gestalten’s ‘Fovever: The New Tattoo’ is an impressive hardcover that features the rule-defying and avant-garde artwork of contemporary tattooers.

As stated in the foreword by Matt Lodder, the book presents ‘‘a selection of the current pantheon’’ of tattoo artists through a series of profiles written by Nicholas Schonberger: much more than just a short bio, these well-written profiles introduce the reader to the wider creative world of each artist, connecting their tattoo work with the cultural scene they belong to and their artistic vision in general.

As one reads deeper and deeper into the book, it becomes clear that the connection between high art and tattooing is as strong and close as it ever was, seen for example in the work of Brooklyn-based tattooer Scott Campbel, also known for drawing inside egg shells, or more notoriously, for carving deep-relief skulls into stacks of real banknotes.

Others, like artist Amanda Washob, work both as visual and tattoo artists, stating that the human skin is just another medium for them to create and express their ideas.

Filled with awe-inspiring (and sometimes hard-to-believe) tattoo designs, as well as the stories and statements of some of the world’s most prominent tattoo artists, ‘Forever: The New Tattoo’ follows an honest and genuine approach to contemporary tattoo and the extraordinary people behind this time-honoured art form.