The World Atlas of Tattoo

Organized geographically, each section is introduced by a concise overview of the types of tattooing traditionally practised in that region, enabling you to trace historical threads in the careers of some of the profiled contemporary tattooers, as well as marvel at how other artists have managed to create wholly new forms of tattooing.

The styles and genres on show span a huge aesthetic range, from stark geometric blackwork to vibrantly coloured painterly masterpieces, and from tiny hand-tattooed shapes to vast machine-drawn designs that cover large areas of the body. The book also tracks the movement and development of styles from their indigenous settings, where they have often been transformed into creative, multicultural, hybrid designs.

Written by an international team of experts, this comprehensive atlas will enlighten and excite anyone who is passionate about tattoo art in all its many forms.

Anna Felicity Friedman is an interdisciplinary scholar and tattoo historian. For many years she taught at the University of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has recently curated a travelling exhibition about tattoo history and culture, which put her in touch with a wide range of contemporary global artists.
James Elkins is E. C. Chadbourne Chair of art history, theory and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.