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Black & Grey Tattoo: From Street Art To Fine Art

(Box Set, Volumes 1-3)

Edited by Marisa Kakoulas and Edgar Hoill (Edition's Reuss)

Black & Grey Tattoo is a mammoth work comprising over 1000 pages, 860 color photographs, and weighing 10kg (22lbs). As one of the largest tattoo book sets ever published, it captures black & grey detail never before seen on this scale. Its three large-format volumes are contained inside a sturdy hardcover box.

Volume 1 focuses on tradtional black and grey in the form of Chicano style, prison, and street tattoo art, and profiles some of the best artists in the world.

Volume 2 focusses on the dark side of black & grey tattoo art from sci-fi to macabre.

Volume 3 takes a comprehensive look at photo-realistic tattooing and its many forms, as made popular by many of the world's masters.

Indeed, there's cross-pollination among the different styles, but the breakdown isn't just for easier lifting of this monster collection. It is to show how tattoos with similar stylistic elements are interpreted differently by stellar artists around the world. The book also presents other fine art (such as paintings and charcoals) by many of those featured.

The first volume, Traditional Black & Grey (336 pages) is somewhat of a misnomer since it's simply called "black & grey" in the tattoo community. However, now that greyscale tattooing has moved in different artistic directions, the "traditional" label denotes tattoo fonts art that has stayed true to its roots in a time when homemade machines made of cassette motors and guitar strings dipped in India ink and wash were used to mark skin. The essence of black & grey art is captured in the photography of co-author Edgar Hoill. Select imagery, with quotes from the artists and collectors, is accompanied by interviews with Jack Rudy (the Godfather of Black & Grey) as well as tattoo prodigy Jesus "Chuey" Quintanar. Their stories and work precede the gallery, which includes tattoos from other pioneers of the style: Mister Cartoon, Freddy Negrete, Brian Everett, and Mark Mahoney.

The Dark/Horror volume (400 pages) delves into demons etched on skin. Paul Booth, often described as the "dark lord of tattooing", reveals some of the reasons why people get these tattoos as well as how his own demons have driven his art. Other tattoos pay homage to horror in pop culture: Artist Xu Zhicheng of Tianzhilong Tattoo in Beijing says in his interview that he finds inspiration for his large scale dark work in vampire films, not personal angst. In this chapter, you'll find eveything from shrunken heads to Frankensteins to famous tattoo artists rendered as zombies.

The Photorealism volume (272 pages) encapsulates work that takes photorealistic art and translates it onto the body. While the other chapters also feature realism, this chapter concentrates on portraiture, scenery, and even fantastical images rendered in true-to-life tableaux. Two artists renowned in this style replica louboutin shoes christian louboutin men sneakers replica , Bob Tyrrell and Andy Engel, talk about how they honed their craft and offer tips on how others can do so as well. Their interviews are followed by work that has invigorated the tattoo community with the possibilities of mastering a subtle art on a difficult canvas.

All three volumes in this collection are meant to inspire, showing just how beautiful black & grey tattoo art can be.

Text in English, German, and Spanish

3 hardcover volumes in box:
Volume 1: Hardcover. 336 pages. Measures 10" 12 1/2"
Volume 2: Hardcover. 400 pages. Measures 10" 12 1/2"
Volume 3. Hardcover. 272 pages. Measures 10" 12 1/2"

$449.99 USD

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