Art Tattoo Montreal Leaves Its Mark on the City

Tweet

Art Tattoo Montreal had something for everyone. If you were already a tattoo aficionado, you could wander the booths and meet artists from America, Asia and Europe, and maybe even grab a flash tattoo on the spot. If you were a newbie, however, it was a great opportunity to get a closer look at tattoo equipment, see other people get tattooed live, and appreciate the wide array of styles out there. And if you had just wandered in off the street at random, you could enjoy the silent auction (the profits of which went to the SPCA), or one of the randomer booths, like the taxidermy shop.

Kate, a piercer from New Moon Tattoo in Ottawa, showed me the gorgeous ear plugs at her booth. Apparently, they were crafted by one of the tattooist’s husbands, who works as a carpenter and makes ear plugs as a side project.

I also met Hilary Jane from Tatouage Royal on Saint-Denis, busy putting up the flash art she’d be selling throughout the day.

Chad, a tattoo artist from Sanitary Electric Tattoo, in Vancouver, was trying something different. His tattoo specialty is large pieces in the traditional Japanese or American style, though at the moment, he seems to have strayed from the very large to explore the very small. Chad was excited to be selling his tiny paintings on bamboo tabs. Each painting was minutely detailed and reminiscent of Japanese scrolls and artwork. The two sides of the tabs told a story or explored a same image: for instance, one side would be two lovers kissing, and the other would be them making love, or one side would be a monster, and the other would be the horrified expression of the poor bloke seeing it.

Tahiti Tattoo from Longueuil specializes in traditional Polynesian tattoo. The tattoos have the tribal look about them; the abstract black curves hug the owner’s body in organized chaos. However, they are not done for the look as much as for the symbolism. The tattoos represent aspects of their owner’s spirits. As it’s deeply personal, Lynda could not go into detail about her tattoo, but she could tell me that her bond with the ocean was part of it.

Pat was one of the many getting tattooed at the expo. Unlike some, he had not spontaneously chosen a piece of flash art, but had been in contact with his artist for some time. He was seeing his tattoo for the first time at the expo, though, and had just had it outlined on his leg when I met him. It wasn’t his first large tattoo, so I guess he was used to the drill, but it still takes a pretty bold guy to be tattooed in front of a milling crowd. On the other hand, if someone who’s never been tattooed is visiting the expo, wondering if they should take the plunge, I imagine it would be quite useful to be able to see someone else going through it firsthand.

New Moon Tattoo
West End Location:
2979 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
613 596 1790
[email protected]

New Moon Tattoo
East End Location:
2127 St. Joseph Boulevard
Orleans, Ontario
613 837 6273
[email protected]

Tatouage Royal
4424 rue St-Denis
Montreal, Quebec H2J 2I1
514 509 2905
[email protected]

World Wide Tattoo Supply
Worldwidetattoo.ca
1 888 255 1189

Tahiti Tattoos
242 St-Charles
Vieux Longueuil, Quebec
514 466 7700
[email protected]

Sanitary Electric Tattoo
3377 Fraser Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
778 371 5084

Art Tattoo Montreal took place on September 11-13 in Montreal.