EA Festival, Essex Book Festival and Firstsite are excited to present a talk with Matt Lodder, author of a new book entitled, Tattoos, published by Yale University Press.

This important book is the first to examine the history of tattoo in the west as both a serious profession and an art form.

There is a pervasive stereotype of tattoo culture as relating to an underworld of scoundrels, sailors, and ne’er-do-wells, yet it has existed in the West as a professionalized art practice for centuries.

Drawing on extensive new research and unprecedented access to largely unpublished private archives of photographs, art, and ephemera, Matt Lodder offers a new perspective on the history of commercial tattooing in Europe and the United States, beginning even before it emerged as a recognizable profession in the mid-nineteenth century.

In the process, he shows that the art of tattoo has long been both practiced and commissioned by individuals across economic, gender, and class divides; he also examines the stylistic trends that have shaped tattoo’s development as an art form over its history.

Matt Lodder will introduce the many artists and professionals who have shaped tattoo history, including early figures like Martin Hildebrandt, the first-known professional tattoo artist in the West; prominent woman artists like Grace Bell and Jessie Knight; mid-twentieth-century icons like Sailor Jerry and Les Skuse and the Bristol Tattoo Club; and contemporary industry stars including Ed Hardy, Davy Jones, and the Leu family.

Tickets are £15 and must be purchased in advance. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the one-hour talk commences at 7pm.

Tattoos will be available to purchase on the evening and a book signing will follow the talk.

About Matt Lodder

Matt is a senior lecturer in art history and theory and director of American Studies at the University of Essex.

Please visit the EA Festival to purchase tickets.