Installation detail from ‘Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail from Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail with Miss Crude's cat from ‘Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail of Imperial Ink's Cat from 'Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail of Brad McIver and RATBAG's cats from ‘Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail from ‘Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
Installation detail from ‘Flash Cats' at The Dowse Art Museum with close up of Doc Hospo's cat. Photo by Mark Tantrum Photography Ltd.
From a LAND BACK knuckle tattoo, to a Purr-vana band-patch,
or a feline Messiah with its crown of thorns, these tattooed cats
speak volumes about how each tattooist has chosen to express
the interests, politics and identities of the cats in Flash Cats.
The Dowse Art Museum is renowned for collecting and displaying
contemporary adornment, but tattoos are often trickier to display
simply because they are on someone’s body. Instead of the
macabre option of peeling people’s skin off, we went with a more
people-friendly solution by commissioning nine tattooists to each
transform one of these silicone Sphynx cats into tatted beasts.
The artists included in Flash Cats are Rose Hu, Miss Crude, Doc
Hospo, RATBAG, Jade Te Whaea, Kaitlin Howe, Brad McIver, Imperial
Inc and Sinatras Tattoos. These artists were chosen to represent
a range of local studios from around the region and their expertise
across different styles of tattooing. The nine tattooed cats atop the
tattoo bed-cum-plinth are representative of the rich tattoo culture
thriving in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Te Awakairangi.
Why cats? This parade of silicone Sphynxes pays homage to the
legend of the first (alive) Sphynx cats ever to be bred in the 1970s
– named Epidermis and Dermis. This is fitting given the process
of tattooing involving the needle piercing through the epidermis
layer of skin and depositing ink into the dermis. And flash? Flash
sheets are the pre-made tattoo designs often lining the walls of
tattoo studios, made by tattooists for people to choose a design
from rather than commissioning custom work.
Today, around one in five people in Aotearoa New Zealand have
a tattoo. This figure increases to about one in three for those
under the age of 30. The rise in popularity of tattoos among
younger generations is no accident. Historically, tattoos have
been tarred with the stereotype that they belong to ‘bikers,
delinquents or criminals.’ Over the past few decades, the industry
has undergone a shift, emphasising tattoos as a craft practice,
promoting professionalism, and opening up opportunities in
what has historically been a male-dominated field. These nine
cats alone are evidence of just how mesmerising and diverse
tattoos can be.
