Description
If you believe that the body is a canvas then you won’t want to miss this glorious insight into the history of tattooing, an ancient art that has taken the modern world by storm.
Over the centuries, countless cultures have performed this ancient practice – from Siberian princesses and Chinese generals to Victorian socialites and European monarchs.
It’s a fascinating story that for many years remained hidden from view under layers of clothing and layers of history. In 1881, a writer in the Saturday Review called tattooing ‘an art without a history’. ‘No-one’, it went on, ‘has made it the business of his life to study the development of tattooing.’ Until now. Join Dr Matt Lodder, author of Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos, and senior lecturer in Art Theory at the University of Essex, and immerse yourself in this fascinating form.
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About the Author
Dr Matt Lodder
Dr Matt Lodder is a researcher, curator, writer and broadcaster. He works as Senior Lecturer in Art History and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex. Matt has been researching and publishing on tattoo history since 2005, and has published several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has been interviewed about tattoo history for TV, radio and print media around the world, and given invited lectures across the UK, in Europe, North America and Japan. His most recent exhibition, British Tattoo Art Revealed, began at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth during 2017, and then toured to museums around the UK through to 2020. His first book Painted People’ for HarperCollins, was published in 2022. He is also the co-host of the tattoo history podcast ‘Beneath the Skin’.
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