PHILIPPE PONS - THE TATTOOED BODY IN JAPAN

PHILIPPE PONS
The tattooed body in Japan

Published by Gallimard, 2018
Book size 20 x 25 x 2 cm
Hardcover
Pages 160 pages
Language french

Through its history and aesthetics, Japanese tattooing, remarkable for the richness of its iconography, the balance of its compositions, its refinement in details, is unique in the world.
Through an approach that is both historical and anthropological,
literary references and interviews with master tattooists over the last thirty years, a popular art emerges, placed in the social history of the archipelago.
The "brocade skins" sometimes covering the entire body, characteristic of traditional art, have little in common with the small-scale tattooing that is enjoying increasing popularity among the younger generation of Japanese artists. Young tattooists today draw inspiration from the work of masters going back two or three generations, but they nevertheless distinguish themselves from them in their practice, their iconography and their state of mind. - Editor's writings