The skin as support: tattoo documents
The AGN and The Tattoo Artist's House show you the files that help us document the history of the tattoo.
Pintura corporal realizada por los indios kayapos (Brasil). by AGN, Archivos Fotográficos, Revista Tiempo, Sección Temático, Caja 239, Tema: Tatuajes.Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
For centuries humanity has inscribed symbols on the skin with sharp objects and pigments. Some practices are still alive, such as those of the Kayapo people, recovered by anthropologist Simone Dreyfus.
Cuadro muestra de tatuajes realizados por José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”. by José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
The tattoo has been studied primarily from anthropology, without omitting other scientific disciplines, although it has not been thematized with sufficiency in its testimonial dimension nor recovered the body as a material support, as a document.
“El hombre extraño”. Articulo publicado en la Revista Tiempo (1968) by AGN, Biblioteca-Hemeroteca Ignacio Cubas, Revista Tiempo, 1 de abril de 1968.Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
Understanding the tattoo as a document allows us to problematize its transformations, from its introduction to the Western world in the mid-eighteenth century by the English sailor James Cook to the resignification of the body by the counterculture and the hippie movement.
Cuadro de hombres con tatuajes alusivos a la cultura oriental by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
On an expedition to Tahiti, James Cook captured a group of natives with their bodies full of tattoos to display. Part of its crew, interested in this way of painting the body, was tattooed by the natives and thus introduced the term tattu in Western Europe.
Modelos de máquinas para tatuaje usadas por el tatuador estadounidense Percy Waters. (1952) by Tattoo ArchiveArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
The practice of tattooing proliferated in European ports and spread to the United States, where, in the late nineteenth century, a technique was developed to perform it by means of electric machines.
Publicación periódica de procedencia italiana “La Domenica del Corriere” (1900) by La Domenica del CorriereArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
By the early twentieth century, the practice of tattooing was well known and well documented. We know this thanks to the fact that periodicals began to circulate, such as La Domenica del Corriere, which touched on these topics.
Articulo dedicado al tatuaje publicado en el periódico italiano “La Domenica del Corriere”. (1900) by La Domenica del CorriereArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
In this newspaper an article was published that gave an account of the tattoo in aesthetic and expressive terms, of its social meanings, the stigma of marginality that justified repression or rejection and its link with high social strata.
Cuadro muestra de tatuajes realizados por José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”. by José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
The stigma of marginality that was given to tattooing made it possible in Mexico to adopt it as a technique of control over criminals and prisoners during the first half of the twentieth century. For this reason, tattooed people were seen as dangerous subjects for social order.
Exhibición de tatuajes. (1976) by AGN, Archivos Fotográficos, Revista Tiempo, Sección Temático, Caja 239, Tema: Tatuajes.Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
In the mid-twentieth century, derived from the cultural circulation with the United States, the popularization of tattooing in Mexico advanced from Tijuana, passed through Guadalajara and reached Mexico City, where the pioneers of the national tattoo emerged.
Caja muestra dedicada a tatuador Aurelio Garcia Armas “El Guello” by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
In the 1970s, in Guadalajara, the figure Aurelio García Armas, el Güello, emerged, one of the pioneers in understanding tattooing as a form of expression and who for years fought to remove the imposed social stigma and achieve a professionalization of this activity.
Roberto Candia Salazar “Tito” en las instalaciones de la extinta penitencia de Lecumberri. (2022) by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
At the same time, tattooing also mutated into its repressive use. Within the penitentiaries, as in Lecumberri, a new movement was born in prison tattooing aimed at building new senses in the skin, beyond an identification mark and stigma.
Caja muestra dedicada a tatuador Roberto Candia Salazar “Tito”. by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
Within the prison tattoo emerged Roberto Candia Salazar, Tito, the last tattoo artist of the Lecumberri prison. He used orthodox techniques, making his machines with homemade artifacts and making his own pigments from the material available in prison.
Presentación de Wilfred Hardy, en la televisión francesa, en su momento considerado el hombre más tatuado del mundo. (1982) by AGN, Archivos Fotográficos, Revista Tiempo, Sección Temático, Caja 239, Tema: Tatuajes.Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
Although tattoos were no longer a serial number for inmates, they were associated with criminals and drug addicts. Despite the prevailing morality, various publications, such as the magazine Tiempo, made known the high degree of acceptance they had in other parts of the world.
Articulo dedicado al modo de vida del pueblo alemán ST Pauli publicado en la Revista Tiempo. by AGN, Archivos Fotográficos, Revista Tiempo, Sección Temático, Caja 239, Tema: Tatuajes.Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
Such is the case of the article related to the idiosyncrasy of the German town of St. Pauli, because since the 1940s there was more acceptance of tattoo culture, contrary to what was lived in Mexico.
Caja muestra dedicada a tatuador José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”. by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
In the 1980s, José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, the Partner, stood out in the world of tattooing. He was born in Guadalajara, but from an early age emigrated to the United States. Upon returning to his hometown, he began to promote projects related to the business and culture of tattooing.
“Tatuajes, Arte Marginado” primera revista de tatuajes en México. (1995) Primer permiso para realizar tatuajes. (1984). by José Luis Zúñiga Jaramillo, “El Socio”Archivo General de la Nación - Mexico
In 1984, the Partner was the first tattoo artist in Mexico to receive government permission to establish a tattoo venue. He then settled in Mexico City, where he published Latin America's first Spanish-language tattoo magazine: Tatuajes. Marginalized Art (1995).
Máquina para tatuaje realizada con métodos caseros. (1984) by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
El Güello, Tito and Socio are three pioneers in Mexican tattooing, important in the search for recognition and consolidation as part of the history and culture of the country. In addition, they have also ventured into the field of modernization of tattoo machines.
Articulo dedicado al tatuador Raúl “Piraña” publicado en la Revista Vice. (1994) by Revista ViceArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
The decade of the 90s was the stage of acceptance and social extension of this practice in Mexico, so several studies were formally established. One of the most representative was Dermafilia, a place attended by Raúl, Piraña, a great exponent of contemporary tattooing.
Máquinas para tatuaje exhibidas y resguardadas en La Casa del Tatuador. by La Casa del TatuadorArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
The dialogue between the documents of The House of the Tattoo Artist and the collection guarded by the AGN invites us to think about the way in which the tattoo has been inscribed on the skin of humanity throughout history.
Diagrama de una máquina para hacer tatuajes. by UnknownArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico
This heritage, also considered documentary, of a private nature, has had a guardian who has classified, protected, preserved and disseminated them: it has been the space called La casa del tatuador located in the Historic Center of Mexico City.
AGN Documentary Collections:
📷 AGN, Archivos Fotográficos, Revista Tiempo, Sección Temático, Caja 239, Tema: Tatuajes.
📃 AGN, Biblioteca-Hemeroteca Ignacio Cubas, Revista Tiempo, 1 de abril de 1968.
The House of the Tattoo Artist:
📍 Avenida Isabel la Católica 14 primer piso 202, Colonia Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX.
📷@lacasadeltatuador
📲 https://www.facebook.com/lacasadeltatuador/?locale=es_LA
🎥 www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbUj-6K1zG1FXGfVtkbMdQ
