From Maurycy Gomulicki's Dziary series
The Anthropologists in Art series at the WM Gallery presents Polish Penitentiary Raw Tattoo, two very different approaches to the practice of raw tattooing in convict circles over several decades - even centuries
Gomulicki’s Dziary (Tats) and Mirczak’s Znaki Specjalne (Special Signs) take an incisive look into the underground world of raw ink - tattoos done using primitive instruments in less than ideal prison conditions, where tattoo is generally outlawed. Conditions in prisons allowed only for primitive tools and dangerous chemicals to be used in tattooing. Paper clips, pins, wires, razor blades and pieces of glass were used to puncture the skin and powdered coal, charcoal, burned rubber, cork, pencil refills, ink, watercolours and crayons were used as colour pigments, often mixed with water, urine, soap, cream or fat. And yet many designs are complex and aesthetically impressive, while also carrying a special meaning for the bearer and his or her lifestyle. Gomulicki and Mirczak take a combine a voyeuristic approach with an anthropological focus on a creative practice that is relatively unknown to the larger public. The exhibition is part of this year's GRID International Photography Biennale in Holland.
Mirczak’s Special Signs has been garnering attention from art and news outlets worldwide, including Esquire Magazine, Financial Times and The New Yorker. It is a series of 25 photographs of glass jars containing pieces of tattooed flesh and skin, perfectly preserved in formaldehyde by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. The photographs depict tattoos that date back to as back as 1875, tracing a history of raw tattoos among prisoners, soldiers and sailors. The character of these images are often humorous - cartoons and flirty pin-ups - while also functioning as a glossary of prison lingo. The project has often been referred to as "The Criminal Code", presented last year to great interest at the Paris Photo Fair in November 2011.
Most of the people documented in Gomulicki's Tats have been incarcerated within the Polish penitentiary system (particularly in the period 1950-1980). The most popular designs are inspired by culture, such as a large back-tattoo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John is unforgettable, and phrases or sayings. The bodies inked by these tattoos also show the test of time, riddled with scars and weathered by the sun.
Katarzyna Mirczak, photographs from the Special Signs 2010 series - tattoos from the collection of the Collegium Medicum UJ, photo courtesy of Eric Franck Art Gallery
Katarzyna Mirczak (b.1980, Walbrzych, Poland) is a graduate of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University (Krakow) specialising in Egypt and the Middle East. She was the official photographer of an international archaeological expedition to the Black Sea region, "Pontica - Koshary" organised by the Classical Archaeology Unit of the Jagiellonian University and the Archaeological Museum of Odessa. After a year’s work at the Institute of Archaeology she left to pursue her passion for photography. In 2007 she began her professional photographic career working as a freelancer for newspapers. The same year she won 2nd Prize in the Newsreportaż 2007 competition (Newsweek Poland) and 3rd Prize in the 'Native Photography' competition organized by Rzeczpospolita, Olympus Poland and the National Museum in Warsaw. In 2008 she joined the Visavis.pl Photographers' Collective - a venture gathering Polish documentary photographers. In 2009 she became Head of International Affiliates cooperating with such photo agencies as Laif or Gamma-Rapho. In 2010 she won 1st Prize of the Grand Press Photo competition in the Sport category. In photography she is primarily interested in the relation between people and their living space. Using her photos as essays she tries to interpret social trends, and create dialogue about ideas and issues which demand public awareness. She is represented by Eric Franck Fine Art, London.
Maurycy Gomulicki (b. 1969) is a graphic artist, photographer, creator of installations and short films. studied at the Graphics Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1987-1992), where he received a degree in artistic graphic design in the studio of Professor Rafał Strent and painting in the studio of Professor Jerzy Tchórzewski. He continued his education at the Universitat de Barcelona (1992-1993), Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan (1994) and Centro Multimedia del Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico (1997-1998). He works in such artistic domains as photography, objects, installations, videos and animations. He lives and works in Warsaw and Mexico.
Brutal Ink - Polish Penitentiary Raw Tattoo is on at the WM Gallery in Amsterdam between the 19th of May - 1st of July 2012. The exhibition is part of this year's GRID International Photography Biennale in Holland. Henk Schiffmacher, founder of the Tattoo Museum in Amsterdam, is scheduled to give a talk at the opening at 5:00 pm on May 19th.
Curators: Sebastian Rypson and Nahuel Blaton
WM Gallery
Elandsgracht 35
1016 TN Amsterdam
www.gallerywm.com
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: WM Gallery, Culture.pl
Thumbnail credit: Katarzyna Mirczak, photographs from the Special Signs 2010 series - tattoos from the collection of the Collegium Medicum UJ, photo courtesy of Eric Franck Art Gallery