Beauty may only be skin deep, but for the new occupants of the Student Union, so are religious affiliations and societal status.
The Union Art Gallery’s new exhibit, which opened Saturday, displays the many forms of body modification practiced across the planet. Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking features enlarged photos from ethnographic photographer Chris Rainier’s world travels.
The black and white photos, many measuring about three feet tall and just as long, depict traditional tattooing and scarification techniques from a diverse group of cultures. Inked and scarred residents of Samoa, Cambodia, Morocco, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Ethiopia, among other nations, are depicted.
Lindsay Elliottsmith, gallery assistant, said the exhibit reminds her of a time before tattoos were co-opted by the main stream.
“Beliefs surrounding tattoos have changed,” Elliottsmith said. “Tattoos are no longer worn to display status or religion as they once were.”
Ellen Farrar, painting and drawing junior, said she saw the exhibit photos being hung up and had to come back to review the finished setting. Farrar said she views the human body as another form of canvas for artists to explore.
“Nowadays I feel like tattoos and piercing are looked down upon,” Farrar said. “I like that these photos celebrate their beauty and spirituality.”
David Garver, ITS employee, happened upon the exhibit and noted the portrait of a Japanese Yakuza mob wife as one of his favorite items. Many of the photographs, including the mob wife, depict full-body tattoos.
A testament to the enduring power of ink rests, with bony fingers curled under palm, on a podium toward the center of the gallery. The mummified arm of an Incan woman, dating back to 1,100 C.E., displays a still discernible tattoo pattern on the parchment-like skin of her forearm.
Also on display are contemporary and antique tattooing tools from the personal collection of Lars Krutak, anthropologist and host of the Discovery Channel’s “Tattoo Hunter.” A television set up at the far end of the gallery plays episodes of Krutak’s explorative show on a loop.
Krutak will visit the University on Oct. 4 to orate a lecture entitled “Skin Deep: the History and Art of Indigenous Tattooing.”
Photographs of three New Orleanian tattoo artists’ work hang in color, representing the divide between old monochrome and vibrant contemporary tattooing technique.
The Union Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday with shortened hours on Sunday. The exhibit is open to the public and admission is free.
