July 2009
La Petite Mort Gallery present…
PERMANENT COLLECTION:
TATTOOED ARTISTS
Group Exhibit: Curated by GUEN DOUGLAS
One Month Exhibit / July 3 – 26, 2009
Vernissage Friday July 3 / 7 – 10pm
Tunes by Boy Scout Killers & Big Mac Daddy
Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1 FM
And it’s my freakin’ bday too !!
Statement:
“What are you gonna do when you’re eighty?”, as if any of us had planned that far ahead. Even those of us conscious of the future should be so lucky as to live to be eighty.
People fear the permanence, and the stigma that tattoos are for the marginalized. Forever is word not one of us could ever fully understand, like love and evil it is unquantifiable. We are made of flesh and when we die, our physical presence decays. Even those that believe in an afterlife might agree that it is doubtful you would take your tattoos with you. Like that nifty anorak you love or your favourite diamond earrings, those that believe might tell you that you leave with what you came in with. nothing. and maybe your soul. For some it is this very same longevity and marginalization that attracts them to this form of decoration. People get tattooed to either belong to or to disassociate from a group, often it is a little of both. These days with the hallmark sentiment of television shows pushing the tattoo world into new markets, we forget the perspectives of those that came before. Those artists and laymen who chose to adorn their bodies not to mark the passing of a loved one or to make grand gestures of faith, but those that flouted the public opinion and got tattooed in spite of the name calling.
What sets these tattooed artists apart from the rest of society? Do we have a deeper understanding of our own mortality, choosing to experience all that we desire, without the fear of consequences? or are we merely impulsive and careless? Even though society’s attitudes are changing there is still a stigma that surrounds the tattooed; that we are morally vacant and criminals of lesser breeding. On the surface we have all been marked, each with our either small or all encompassing, permanent collections, but we come from every background, rich and poor, formally educated and street smart. Like anyone, our perspectives on life, death and in between unable to escape the influence of our choices in life, and vice versa .
– Guen Douglas, 2009
“Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones.”
Henry David Thoreau
Photo Credit: Remi Theriault
ARTIST INCLUDE:
Hayden Menzies (Toronto) haydenmenzies.com
Crazzy Dave (Ottawa) (no website)
Azdead (no website)
Angela Marklew (Los Angeles) fstopinertia.com
Jon Claytor (Montreal) jonclaytor.com
Joel Conroy (Montreal) studiotattoomania.com
James Huctwith (Toronto) (no website)
Aaron Lucy (Los Angeles) aaronlucyphoto.com
Remi Theriault (Ottawa) remitheriault.com
Michelle Wilson (Ottawa) mwphotographs.com
Adam Turk (San Diego) turkturkturk.com
Guy Berube (Planet Uranus) guyberube.com
Josh Crowe (Montreal) (no website)
David Glantz (Toronto) archivetattoo.com
Adrienne Turner (Ottawa) (no website)
Scooter Laforge (New York) scooterlaforge.com
Brandon Steen (Toronto) brandonsteenart.com
Zachari Logan (Saskatoon) (no website)
Nico Mensinga (Rotterdam) 25tolifetattoos.com
Guen Douglas (Ottawa) guendouglas.com
Thank you,
Guy Berube, director
La Petite Mort Gallery