GARY GORDON

Since 1984 I have practiced the art of tattooing, starting in my first studio in Kings Road, Chelsea, London at the now defunct but at the time, trendy, Great Gear Market - a place of innovation, style and just general coolness.

 

I had finished my training as a psychiatrist nurse, which at the time of training was going to be my career. Until I had, what I called, an epiphany (although that may be disputed by the theological). I understood that I was to become a tattooer. I saw what the future of tattooing was to become, I saw the normalising and acceptance of tattooing in the future. Which brings us to the now, at that time, “the future”. Within 18 months I took my trade on the road, buying a ticket around the world. USA, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand, and from there over to India, Kashmir, and then back to the UK after 18 months of travelling. 

​

At the time I found it difficult to just stop in London - I had been around the world, so within a few weeks, I found myself in Munich in the Summer of '88. A time of the Summer of Love and the beginning of the rave party scene. Intending to stay in Munich as a participant of an exhibition by the performance artist Wolfgang Flatz, for a week I performed together in the gallery performance of Hautnah (near the skin) and brought artist interpretation of tattooing to the extremely conservative state of Bavarian. This week long trip, morphed into 8 years working as a tattooer in Munich and working closely with “Flatz” the artist to perform various tattoos as artistic performance art, on the artist and thus breaking that wall of elitism. My work can still be seen with this artist to this day if you visit flatz.net - the first 4 pieces were done by me in collaboration with the artist. 

 

I do consider myself to be an “all rounder”, being able to turn my hand to anything from portraits to small fine line tattoos, and everything in between.