Often considered an undergounrd art form, tattoos take centre stage in a new exhibition, writes Clare Morin

Naked bodies hang on the walls of the Racks MDB bar and billiards club in Central. Some have their skin rendered with ferocious dragons, others are painted with butterflies, and yet more are marked with calligraphy. Other bodies have completely disappeared under abstract paintings.

This is Skin Ink, a large-scale exhibition of tattoos that has for the first time brought Hong Kong’s territorial tat’ artists under one roof. Bizarrely, there’s no real skin in sight – for the purpose of this exhibition each artist has been given a life size canvas photo portrait to work upon.

The result is a fascinating exhibition that asks the question, have Hong Kong tattooists evolved towards the status of fine artists, as is occurring in the United States? Traditionally, tattoos have been the mainstay of triads and sailors, with seedy parlours along Lockhart Road and dangerous shops in Mong Kok providing the only options for those keen on decorating their skin. However in the 1990s, as tattoos became more main stream globally, a splurge of younger studios opened up.

Skin Ink provides a window into this fascinating aspect of our city’s history, as well as offering a wonderful window shopping opportunity for those interested in getting a tattoo themselves. Instead of tramping around the individual studios you can see them all at once. But here comes the second question: can we really judge a tattoo artist’s work by their efforts on canvas? Surely painting on a canvas is very different from using a tattoo gun on a conscious lump of flesh that can squirm, shout and run out of the room at any given moment?

“Sometimes taking something slightly out of context gets it exposed to a wider audience,” says Jay FC of China Stylus, who co-organised the exhibition with Timon Wehrli of the acclaimed photography agency Red Dog Studio. Skin Ink is reminiscent of China Stylus’ previous ST/ART exhibitions that brought the city’s graffiti artists off the streets and working on one-foot square canvases. The aim this time, says Jay FC, is to once again bring attention to the underexposed art form. “It’s also providing a level playing field,” he adds “so all artists can be judged equally.”

And judge them, audiences will. The city’s 14 major studios are involved in Skin Ink and more than 20 artists are taking part, ranging from those in their 20s, to the old school masters such as Jimmy Ho and Ricky Yan who are now in their 60s and 70s. Jimmy Ho’s work is outstanding –his traditional Chinese back pieces of dragons and flowers bear the signs of a bona fide master that would make any self-respecting triad member proud. Ho is the descendent of Hong Kong tattoo royalty, the son of James Ho, who opened the city’s first tattoo studio in 1946.

While a few of the exhibition’s pieces look like they’ve come straight out of a high school art class, there are also promising new talents in the midst. Julia of Star Crossed studios in Tsim Sha Tsui shows the range of her ability in three canvases from old school Americana designs to graffiti-esque works to traditional Chinese bamboo and cherry blossom. “It’s the next best thing to a tattoo convention,” says the Hong Kong-born artist. “You’re able to judge who has artistic merit.”

Julia represents the new generation of Hong Kong tattoo artists who are increasingly using custom work over flash designs (generic designs that a client chooses, and has traced onto their skin), highly personalized works that are increasingly in demand in a hype-individualistic society.

Gabe Shum Long-wai, who has a penchant for dragons being named after one and owning the Ace Dragon studio in Tsim Sha Tsui, is widely known for his custom work. The Malaysian-born artist spent part of his youth in Ghana, West Africa and Las Vegas. Over the past seven years he has earned a reputation as the ‘celebrity tattooer’ for the work he has done on the likes of sports stars David Beckham and Lebron James in his Cameron Road studio.

Shum says that despite the growing amount of custom work, very few tattooists could be regarded as true artists. “I don’t think there are so many real artists in Hong Kong, a lot of them are doing it for the money.” Gabe builds his own tattoo guns and often draws freehand directly onto his client’s skin. “I will look at them and their character,” he says. “I will talk to them and get their personality, and often they will leave it to me. A lot of people can draw, but it’s also about your personality. You need to be patient with people.”

While Gabe believes artists are only now emerging with the increase in custom work, Ricky Yan, owner of the notorious Ricky and Pink’s Tattoo studio in Lockhart Road, has a different opinion. Yan is one of the few remaining from the early generation. “I’m probably one of the oldest masters here,” admits the elderly man. “Most my age have already retired or died.” Although Ricky principally works from flash designs, he argues that now art is moving away from an art form and becoming mere accessory. “The dynamics have changed a lot,” he says in his guttural Cantonese. “It used to be full body coverage, now it’s a one off thing to get a tattoo. Now it’s not art, it’s more of an accessory.”

French Vietnamese artist Leon, who is one of the few overseas artists taking place in the show due to his current slot as a guest artist at Ace Dragon studios, has yet another point of view on the subject. Leon is one of the few who has completely painted over the photo portrait and instead rendered an abstract painting. Despite taking a rather arty approach, Leon scoffs “I don’t know what is ‘artist’” when asked whether tattooing has now become an art form. “The real meaning of tattoos in Hong Kong is prisoners and gangsters; this is where tattoos have come from in a modern society. Now people say artists, but artists go with fashion. A tattoo is between you and your customer. For art, you cannot compare.”

It’s a divided community where different camps have utterly diverse opinions. Yet this is what makes the exhibition a resounding success – it has put focus on tattooing like never before.

Skin Ink Art Exhibition, until July 9, Racks, 7/F, M88, 2-8 Wellington St, Central.