The London Tattoo Convention came to a close last night and I'm hurting this morning. All attempts at being highbrow or tattoo couture were thwarted at the stocked bars that sandwiched the convention on the ground and top floors. I became a rock-n-roll cliche: stewed, tattooed, and eventually screwed by a killer hangover. But I'm using what little brain cells I have left to offer a proper redux of the event.



With three floors of the Old Truman Brewery occupied by 180 of the best artists from around the world, my greatest worry this weekend was not how I would be able to flip through all their stellar portfolios, but how I would kiss them upon first greetings: for Tin Tin of Paris, one on each cheek; Yugen Tattoo of The Netherlands, three kisses Dutch style; one air kiss for Bugs who's now in LA; a hardy British handshake for Lal Hardy; a devil sign across the hall to Tim Kern of Last Rites; and then some tongue for my hubby who didn't take a break from working the whole weekend.

In fact, it seemed that all artists were working non-stop with the venue fully packed, sometimes shoulder-to-shoulder with the freshly tattooed bleeding out of their plastic wrap. [You don't go to conventions for the hygiene.] While I don't have an official estimate from the organizers, I figure at least 10-15,000 people walked through the doors. The lines of convention-goers did not reach the end of the Brick Lane like last year, but I attribute that to better organization than less people.

Interestingly, it wasn't all die-hard tattoo fans swarming the halls. Press and paparazzi were everywhere sticking cameras in the faces of those getting needled, including the BBC, whose article on Friday of the convention includes a photo of a blackwork leg piece being worked on at the Calypso Tattoo booth. There were also after-work suits who seemed particularly enthralled by the many tattooed women in small outfits, and other curious onlookers who were able to see traditional hand tattooing in a Polynesian tattoo hut set up on the bridge level or Japanese tebori on the first floor.



For the culture bent, three different art exhibits lined the second level gallery walls. The Japanese Gallery in London offered a fabulous look into the art of irezumi with a display of original wood block prints of decorated warriors and women, which could also be purchased. Photos by Juan Puente of modern day Japanese tattooing were also shown. Next to these prints was the photo-documentary of Steven Ball and Serena Stevenson entitled "The Living Art of PacificTattoo". My favorite exhibit images were the intense, colorful photos by Greek artist Soto Kon who explored Oriental and Tibetan mysticism. It was a veritable world tour of exotic art, all in an old London brewery.

And of course, there were the Suicide Girls and their army of fans surrounding their booth. With our booth just a few feet from the girls, I had to continuously shove my way past hoards of young men hungry to take a picture with their favorite model. And there were plenty to choose from with a bevy of bad ass beauties posing, selling merch and memberships, and promoting their Italian Villa film and Sunday's after party.

See if your favorite girls were in attendance.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Elf, Lolo, Phinn, Sheena, Cherry, Charley, Tsui, Sjanett, Candee, Divinity, Jezabel, Candylac, Frankie, Tragique, Gem, Loretta, Balboa, Camilla, Dina, Dotty, Anarchie, Fatal, Dis, Dynamite, Leola, Disco, Fanny, Kit, Electro, Jessika, Fetish, Akemi, Jackie, Brite, Ravenisis


UK Suicide Girls with me, Suicide Middle-Aged Woman.

In addition to hanging out with the girls (and feeling very old), there were a number of personal highlights of the convention:

• The all-female tattooer Art Fusion Experiment team who produced five fabulous charcoaled canvases and not one included a flower-shaped vagina.


• Shige of Japan sweeping a number of tattoo awards from the competition including Best of Show.


• Hearing the delicious and very naughty laugh of Isobel Varley, the World's Most Senior Tattooed Woman.

Obviously absent from this list is drinking with tattooer friends and breaking out into Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name. I'll just leave those details out.


Goethe Silva tattooing.

Marisa_DiMattia is a lawyer and editor of Needled.com, a blog on tattoo art and culture.