Author: Crossfire

Alex MacNaughton
(Prestel)

Opening up a book with a photo of some art with a stern looking military officer with the slogan “Art free zone by order of the Ministry of Misery: Free thought, self expression, creativity and enjoyment are strictly prohibited” is definitely a way to set out your stall when discussing street art, and is proceeded by a thought-provoking introduction which discusses the relationship of graffiti and street art and the general public’s views on both.

Hurtyoubad.com says that the media “celebrates ‘street artists’ because they appear to represent something universal and safe” whilst Panik from the ATG crew discusses why graffiti artists feel the need to distance themselves from the “trendy art students” which is a problem that this “street art” label brings about, especially with Banksy’s celebrated style fetching thousands of pounds from people with more money than sense.

So, on to the art within the pages, something which is celebrated, despite the part-cynical attitudes of the introduction and which are all found in the capital of England, a place that Pure Evil says has a “dirt that helps things grow”. Where a lot of art books look to print very vibrant photos with lots of colour filling the page, this book isn’t afraid to print big photos of dreary looking walls, because the art stands out on its own merits, because of the dreariness.

From stencils in Liverpool Street to paste-ups in N1 to the graffiti of Panik, Sickboy and Sweet Toof, this book showcases the wide-reaching styles of art and the environments that London pulls up for them. Of course there will be people who are sick of the snobs in the media legitimising certain types of art and demonising others, but this book shows that London has a way of giving so much to the eyes of everyone in the city.

Abjekt.

Jo Waterhouse
(Laurence King)

These days, everyone has a tattoo. With television dedicating shows to them, celebrities showing them off at every opportunity and colourful arms, legs and everything in between on view everywhere, it would be easy to dismiss them as the latest fad. But what happens when tattooists feel their on-skin work limits them and their art? Well, this is the book to answer that questions, showing the artists’ work off-skin.

The foreward, written by Jesse Lee Denning, makes an important point right from the off – tattoos began as an artform outside the norm, we shouldn’t be looking at reality TV for it, but instead should consider their importance in cultural terms. Author Jo Waterhouse picks up the baton by discussing in her introduction the differences in working on and off canvas whilst pointing out that there are some tattooists whose on-skin work still heavily influences their work off it.

The majority of the book is a brilliant showcase of selected artists’ work in glorious colour. Each artist has their own page of answers to various questions, some with quotes, which gives a nice insight into how they view their own work. But it is the art that takes centre stage varying from more traditional styles by Mandie Barber and Lola Garcia, Angelique Houtkamp‘s vintage works, Japanese influenced art by Matt Hunt and the hyper-realistic Cody Meyer.

Having the chance to look through numerous pieces of art and see how tattooing has both been worked into it or the complete opposite, as Regino Gonzales does so that “you’re not art being directed by your canvas”, is a joy with this book. Even those not head-over-heels with tattooing will dig it.

Abjekt.