ebo Gallery

Japanese Tattoo Prints

Our online exhibition, Japanese Tattoo Prints features large-scale, densely composed pictorial tattoos by Japanese Printmakers Paul Binnie and Daniel Kelly.  What is now recognized as a distinctly Japanese style — emerged in 19th-century Japan in concert with woodblock prints depicting tattooed heroes of history and myth.

Paul Binnie’s tattoo prints, featured in, but not limited to his series Edo Izumi hyaku shoku (100 Shades of Edo Ink), begun in 2004, were recently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Binnie fused two of his interests, figurative drawing and the study of  classic Ukiyo-e, into tattoos added to the backs of models.  

Kyoto-based Daniel Kelly creates large-format art prints depicting a tattooed girl. The works combine contemporary imagery with refined printmaking techniques and reflects Kelly's distinct visual language. The prints were created beginning in 2005 and produced on soft, thick paper imported from Nepal. Daniel Kelly employed a combination of different printmaking methods, resulting in a technically complex and visually rich work. This mixed approach underlines his versatility as a printmaker and his experimental attitude toward materials and processes.