Lightroom Projects presents the photography exhibition Ink – The Tattoo Project by Pantelis Zervos and Ilias Anastasiadis, which will run from January 20 to February 13, 2011 at Taf/ The Art Foundation
The exhibition explores aspects and meanings of tattoo, as they are depicted in about 200 diptych photographic portraits.
The social reception and connotations of tattoo have been considerably differentiated throughout the years. INK – The Tattoo Project focuses in tattoo as narration of personal stories, transmission of messages, relation of conflict, transition and acceptance of oneself and the social environment. The exhibition presents photographs of tattoos in correlation with the portraits of their owner, and invites spectators to observe, compare the documentations, decode this visual and bodily code of communication, and to form their own interpretations.
Pantelis Zervos and Ilias Anastasiadis worked together for 12 months having the subject as common interest – while they did not have a tattoo themselves. Ilias was founding the appropriate people and Pantelis was photographing them. There were more than 200 tattoo holders that visited the photographer’s studio and shared their numerous vivid stories on how they acquired their tattoos.
Who’s gonna beat the devil’s tattoo?…
Back in the late 19th century, Jack London was quoting “Show me a man with a tattoo and I ‘ll show you a man with an interesting past”. If Jack’s spirit passed by TAF/The Art Foundation for a bourbon or two at the 20th of January, it would come across almost 200 of such men and women. A relatively blank portrait of them – who wouldn’t pose to Pantelis Zervos for a portrait anyway?- and a photo of their tattoo(s). To bring out the expression that’s missing from the portrait. The colour and the tattoo(s) that each one of them chose to bear on their skin. Forever.
The photo shootings for INK:The Tattoo Project lasted 12 months. Over 200 people, 400 unique tattoos and a thousand stories behind them came by Pantelis’ studio. You can see that one who’s felt the needle inside him, and got his skin inked, most of the times, wants to say something without even opening his mouth. He wants to say it with his tattoo and he wants to do it all the time. For an awful lot of years. With a decent google search, you can find out that people have inked themselves since the New Stone Age. And that’s over 10.000 years ago.
5-6 guys that take part in the project admitted that their tattoos don’t mean or symbolize anything specific for them. They just liked their design or the colours. One of them had inked each one of his toes. From the left to the right. From 1 to 10. Arguably, that couldn’t have any hidden meanings. It was just a part of his personality, of his ego. This specific tattoo and hundreds of others will be exhibited at TAF from the 20th of January till the 13th of February, waiting for you to decode them. If you can.
TAF,Νορμανού 5,Αθήνα.
