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THE
LONDON SHOW It had been six years since the 1999 Dunstable convention. By then a mere shadow of its former self, it was once the tattoo event of the year. Everybody and I mean everybody was there. I remember, when I was younger, looking at pictures in the tattoo magazines of the strangest looking characters wandering the aisles of Dunstable. But the Dunstable convention eventually died and none of the other bigger British meetings like Derby or Mantra (as nice as they are) could come near it. The only way to get England back onto the international tattoo map was to organize a show in London itself, which the organizers, Miki Vialetto and Marcus, did in October. Overcoming business politics as well as meeting strict British health standards wasn't easy, but if any pair could pull it off, it was Miki and Marcus. The hype was on. Three different posters designed by Paul Booth, Filip Leu and Patrick Conlon were printed and distributed and the mass media was alerted. Could they live up to it? Of course, and the buzz all proved to be right, because, during the last few years, there hasn't been a more important tattoo convention anywhere in the world. First of all, the location was well chosen. The Old Truman Brewery is a huge building with four floors of usable space, perfectly located at Brick Lane, one of the hottest and trendiest areas of already-steaming London. When we arrived on Thursday night for the art fusion event in the building's spacious basement, the bars and restaurants in the quarter were already rocking, but quite a few early arrivals opted to have a drink or two, instead of attending the action at the Brewery. They dearly missed out, because some beautiful collaborative paintings were created, which were exhibited during the weekend. Friday was a big surprise. Though it's usually the quietest day of a convention, London was different. The queue reached around the block and fans had to wait for three hours to get in. Luckily, the weather was extremely un-Londonish, sunny and warm. All the visitors who finally made it inside braced themselves for Europe's biggest show-and some serious legwork! Each one of the three main floors could have been a convention in itself and there were many stairs to climb. Since I had promised myself to miss as little as possible, I was constantly up and down. But the pleasure of meeting so many friends in one place soothed my tired legs. Apart from the tattooing rooms, there was a large supplier area, a room full of trade stalls and several bars. Part of the health regulations stipulate that food and beverage areas have to be strictly separated from the tattooing stalls. So, there was absolutely no drinking and eating-and certainly no smoking-allowed inside the tattoo halls. It took some time to get used to this but, in the end, it made the majority of people more comfortable. As a non-smoker, I personally like conventions where there is no nicotine cloud hanging over the booths, and it is actually quite enjoyable to wake up on Monday without a sore throat, a headache and itchy eyes. Well, I must admit, sometimes the head hurts, but not because of the smoke.
Almost the complete Leu family, including Filip (and some non-tattooing members), arrived and occupied a whole separate area with Paul Booth and Liorcifer from New York's Last Rites Studio as well as Horiyoshi student Alex Reinke and Berlin tattooist Sabine Gaffron. Naturally, this was the most packed of all places at the convention and the celebrities were busy posing for photographs. Interesting news came from the Leu family. It seems that Filip's younger brother Ajja (who is a very notable musician) has taken up tattooing again and is working at the Lausanne street shop every Monday and Tuesday, specializing in tribal work. Paul Booth was accompanied for several days by a film crew, which is shooting a documentary on the art fusion movement. Another heavyweight in London was tribal guru Leo Zulueta (Spiral Tattoo, Ann Arbor, Michigan). He is surprisingly little known in Europe, especially among younger tattooists. It's actually a shame, because without Leo Z. a lot of us in the business wouldn't be able to make a living! If it wasn't for him, modern tribal work tattoos would never have gotten that popular. It was amazing to see black-and-gray wizards Bob Tyrell, Ethan Morgan, Benjamin Moss and Robert Hernandez (who won Best of Show) working together under one roof. And what a thrill it was to watch, among so many others, Mick of Zurich, French originals Tin-Tin and Manu (de Chalons), Canadian Paul Jeffries and Pierre Chapelan (Tattoo Mania), plus Freddy Corbin, Troy Denning and Juan Puente. From Japan there was Shige (Yellow Blaze), the crazy guys from Tokyo Hardcore Tattoo, Makoto and traditional artist Horikoi. The latter was working in a specially set up area on the ground floor with Pili Mo'o from Tenerife. It looked a little like they were tattooing inside an aquarium, but at least the visiting masses were kept at a distance to ensure the dignity and meditative atmosphere of hand-tattooing. It was a particularly spectacular line-up, which was further emphasized by the fact that booths were invitation-only and the artists did not have to pay to be part of this show. This was particularly appreciated by participants coming from far away, who have high travel expenses. Among the many Americans who came to England were Tim Lehi, Mike Rubendall (as always, teaming up with Danish Oriental sensation Henning Jorgensen), Timothy Hoyer, Chris O'Donnell, flashmeister Aaron Bell and pinup wizards Mike Davis and Patrick Conlon. Kevin LeBlanc shared a booth with Jason Kundell (who has just finished his stint in Spain and opened Seventh Son Tattoo with Erik Rieth and Luke Stewart in California).
Adrian Lee is spending a lot of time in Japan these days and worked next to his old buddies Ron Earhart and Paco Excel. Unfortunately, not so many of my fellow Germans were there, just Olli Lonien from Trier, who is doing awesome Oriental work and Astrid from Frankfurt, whereas, quite a strong presence could be felt from Dutch artists. They just seem to love traveling and people like Marco Bratt, the excellent Darko (on the road), Rob Admiraal (with Angelique and Jan Paul) from Amsterdam and Sieto and his crew from Yugen Tattoo. Jeroen Franken (now at Greg Orie's Dragon Tattoo, Eindhoven), who specializes in heavy tribal as well as Western traditional work was sharing his booth with Lionel and Niccku Hori, two excellent artists who flew in from Singapore just for the event. But of course, it wasn't just guests from afar. Some of England's elite were there as well: Veteran Alex Binnie came with his Into You crew, having expanded his business to the popular seaside resort of Brighton and just opened a branch down there. While the man himself (who is mainly doing painting now) was socializing most of the time, hand-work pioneer Zed Le Head tattooed alongside French Thomas. Both have been working in a pointillist style for years now, a highly attractive way of tattooing that is experiencing an enormous boom in Europe at the moment. More pioneers of this style are Christos and Tas, two Greek artists who live and work in Spain. One artist who didn't work, but showed a lot of his work on friends, was Richard Pinch from Aberdeen. The Scotsman seems to kind of keep to himself, but his work is certainly first-class. Woody from High Wycombe was clowning around, as always. Nikole Lowe (former Angelic Hell, now Frith Street Tattoo) inked all weekend and old-timer Lal Hardy posed for photographs with his friend George Bone (once "World's Most Tattooed Man") or with stunning porn star Tera Patrick. She looks great with her clothes on, too, by the way, and her rock star boyfriend Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard was the host of the tattoo contests, a job where he could really take advantage of his stage experience. Highly entertaining! The contest prizes were antique silver sacred hearts, which are found in Italian churches. So much better than the usual cheesy, fake-gold plastic cups that look more like someone won a local bowling tournament. Other than the contests, there was not much entertainment to be seen. Since there weren't too many "normal" folks in attendance, there was no need. In fact, almost everybody who visited works in the business or is closely connected. These were serious people who came for the quality of the tattooing. Criticisms? Not many. Maybe more seating in the bar areas, a wider variety and better quality of food. But whoever didn't like the stuff that was served could always venture out and find something edible at take-away stalls and Indian restaurants outside the convention hall. All in all, this show was exactly what was needed in England, at this point in time. For the British artists who worked and attended the convention, it was a definitely a good thing. And this is not the last of the good news! Marcus and Miki have already announced that there will be, in fact, a second London tattoo convention on October 6,7 and 8, 2006! It promises to be bigger, better and even more spectacular than this year-if that's possible. -Travelin' Mick |
