their body art. Simultaneously, the works prompt consideration of the unfettered access we provide strangers to our private lives through tattoos, and by extension the conscious choices we make about the image we wish to portray of ourselves to the outside world. Further, the works ponder issues of ownership of one’s own body, and society’s insistence on having input as to what can and can’t be done with this property. Broader acceptance of tattooing and visible tattoos in Western society has undoubtedly prompted an increased engagement by contemporary artists with the medium. The rapid advancements in tattoo technology have provided artists new horizons, while many trained tattooists are using the industry as a pathway to a contemporary arts practice. Contemporary artists, as they have always been, are society’s commentators – its moral compass of sorts. By using tattoo as a visual device, artists have also been afforded the opportunity to take a fresh approach to their explorations of societal issues as broad as body image, personal identity, cultural belonging and appropriation, fringe cultures, mortality, permanence/impermanence and many others. A Permanent Mark: the impact of tattoo culture on contemporary art draws together a number of these notable works to encapsulate how far and in what ways tattoo has permeated into the contemporary art sphere. Further, it queries how the contemporary art world now views a medium that is experiencing a masspopularisation. Finally, the exhibition encourages viewers to pontificate as to how the intersect between the two industries, contemporary art and tattooing, will continue to evolve. In what ways will our contemporary artists utilise the medium in the future, and will the two fields continue to blur more closely together? Eric Nash CURATOR, GALLERY SERVICES Notes 1 ‘Sullivan+Strumpf: Artists’, eX de Medici , viewed August 2014 2 Paul Flynn, ‘eX de Medici: Cover Story’. Artist Profile, Issue 5, 2008 3 ‘Belgium’, Wim Delvoye: Tattooing Pigs or the Art of Provocation , viewed August 2014 4 Discussion between Richard Dunlop and exhibition Curator, Eric Nash, 9 August 2014 5 Suhanya Raffel and Lynne Seear, ‘Human human’. Ah Xian, Queensland Art Gallery, 2003, pp. 9 6 Rhana Devenport, with Linda Jaivin, ‘Dualism and solitary journeys: An interview with Ah Xian’. Ah Xian, Queensland Art Gallery, 2003, pp. 22 7 ‘Tsunami Death Cult’, About Me , viewed August 2014 8 ‘Hai Gallery’, Biography: Chen Man < www.haigallery.com/biography-chen-man/?lang=en>, viewed August 2014 9 ‘GARAGE Magazine’, GARAGE Magazine No.1 Fall/Winter 2011 - Damien Hirst Cover , viewed August 2014 10 ‘Daily Mail Australia’, Past their sell by dates: Meet the people branded for life with tattoos advertising websites that no longer exist , viewed August 2014 11 ‘TATE’, Performance: Santiago Sierra < www.tate.org.uk/contextcomment/video/performance-santiago-sierra>, viewed August 2014 12 ‘Santiago Sierra’, 160cm Line Tattooed on 4 People < www.santiago-sierra.com/200014_1024.php>, viewed August 2014 13 Discussion between Leslie Rice and exhibition Curator, Eric Nash, 8 August 2014 14 Discussion between Regan Tamanui and exhibition Curator, Eric Nash, 10 August 2014 15 Lisa Reihana, email to exhibition Curator, Eric Nash, 7 August 2014 16 ‘Ron McBurnie’, Romantic Prints Page 1 , viewed August 2014 17 ‘Ron McBurnie’, A-Z From my toes to my head , viewed August 2014 A Permanent Mark the impact of tattoo culture on contemporary art 18