Vintage Tattoo Flash
100 Years of Traditional Tattoos from the Collection of Jonathan Shaw
Volumes I & II
Jonathan Shaw
powerHouse Books
I’m one of the few people I know lacking a tattoo. Growing up in the ’60s meant the only tattoos I knew about were from Popeye the Sailor and a distant uncle in the Navy. In the Early ’80s I moved to L.A., where punk bands took to tattoos and ran with them. I suspect the craze derived from Penelope Spheeris’s 1980 punk rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization. In it, we see Exene Cervenka and her bandmates from the seminal group X inking themselves with sewing needles and India ink. But now ink is the hot trend, and socially acceptable almost anywhere.
In some sense, tattoos are a rather ephemeral art form. They only last as long as you are alive, mostly. If you want a tattoo and don’t know what options you have, the tattoo artist will provide suggestions in the form of some now-disappearing posters. Vintage Tattoo Flash collects the posters from tattoo parlors to maybe spark an idea. Unfortunately, many of these old posters were lost, and author Shaw was on the spot to catch quite a few of those relics known as “tear sheets.” The posters adorned the walls of tattoo shops, making clear what the job would look like when it was done. After all, there are no erasers or do-overs in this trade.
This massive two-volume coffee-table book captures the raw energy of this art form. There’s a bit of textual information, but the imagery is the selling point. I’ve not ever run into one of these posters when dealing antiques, but they are darn attractive. Author Shaw relates stories of their acquisition for his collection, including dumper diving for his art. You’ll know which one just by the rips and stains and mysterious menu spillages. Flip it open to a random page, glance the images, and imagine the stories behind them. Or sit and study Vintage Tattoo Flash, perhaps getting ideas for your own body art. You’ll be in good company.
Vintage Tattoo Flash Vol 1 & Vol II • powerHouse Books • Jonathan Shaw
