Tattoo Book

A wide look at aesthetics in contemporary tattooing and the art form's global history

It’s estimated that one in four Americans has at least one tattoo. Once associated with criminality (at least in certain cultures), tattoos have become overwhelmingly common. This is not new news. Taking a deeper look into the phenomenon, contemporary tattooing and the art form’s more global beginnings is “Tattoo,” a new book published to accompany an exhibition at Paris’ Musée du Quai Branly. While there …

Omar Ba’s State of Emergency

The Senegalese artist's striking pieces are beautiful, but deceptively dark

The vibrant, precise color combinations and elaborate detailing in artist Omar Ba’s paintings, on show now at London’s Hales Gallery, sometimes make them reminiscent of illustrations for a beautiful children’s book. But as you draw closer, the sinister underside of the images starts to reveal itself—the reflections in a man’s sunglasses depict tanks and a helicopter, the marionette hands that control soldiers and weapons bear …

François Meyer’s Portraits D’Artistes

A photography book intimately documenting over 120 artists and their work over the last 40 years

When admiring art, many of us dream of the lives behind the pieces: glamorous, tortured, a life of creation. Even before this current age of voyeurism, not only did artists’ work draw the public eye, so did their lives. At the crossroads of this stands photographer François Meyer—a longtime collector, enthusiast and documentarian of those making it. Meyer himself is a curious, meticulous artist, and …