Behind The Lines @ aMBUSH Gallery

By Ben Stephens.

As far as social movements go, there are those that stick around and define not only a just generation but an entire society, others seem stick for a week or two and then fall off the radar… Pokémon Go will be a blip on the radar, right? Though when it comes to those that stand the test of time, it’s usually due to the ability to bring a group of humans together and in some way, unite them all. Take for example, the humble tattoo, the art and movement of tattooing is inked deep in history. The word itself shows up sometime in the mid 1700’s in a diary from a member of Captain Cook’s team. At some point when they were making their way past Polynesia, the word is used to explain inked facial patterns.

A video posted by Behind The Lines (@behindthelines_) on Jul 18, 2016 at 5:03pm PDT

A rad history indeed, but what I really want to tell you about is more in the now, it’s an exhibition that is currently happening at aMBUSH Gallery at Central Park.

Behind The Lines is a collection of some gnarly works from tattoo artists ranging from Japan, Polynesia and the West. The exhibition gives you the insight to the cultural differences, with tribal face tattoos to tramp stamps and extremely detailed koi fish body suits. Japanese legend Horiken and the local skilled up champion Rhys Gordon are showing off some of their freshest works, head to toe coverings… that’s total commitment.

The exhibition will also play host to the Gold Coast based artist Nixx, with his original Chicano style, Shane Gallagher’s take on the Polynesia tribal inks, Steve Smith’s very fine pencil work and lastly Emma Salmon will be going showing how the art of tattooing enriches the female body, her photography is next level. Behind the Lines is completely free and is open daily from 12-8pm, it’s a perfect place to check out the history and find inspiration for your first or fourth inking.

A photo posted by Behind The Lines (@behindthelines_) on Jul 9, 2016 at 6:57am PDT

The celebrations of tattooing will finish up on Sunday August 14, where a big day of ‘Tattoo Sunday’ has been planed, stay close to the aMBUSH Facebook page to keep up to date in that one.

Behind the Lines is at aMBUSH Gallery until August 14.