50 LOWER LEFT: Tattoo emblem. Marquesas Islands. Late 19th century. Wood. H: 87 cm. Musée du Quai Branly, inv. 71.1894.77.1. Photo: Patrick Gries, Bruno Descoings. © Musée du Quai Branly. BELOW: Edmond Demaître, Motifs “embroidered” on the back. 1930–1935. Fiber print mounted on card. Edmond Demaître © Musée du Quai Branly. MUSEUM news an art form—or at least a style—unto itself. Exaggeration and excess that sometimes borders on derision are the main hallmarks of these reinterpretations, the origins of which are not as recent as one might think. The Tiki style, a sort of fantasy of the Pacific Islands, is a flamboyant example. It became popular in the United States in the 1950s and ‘60s but its roots lie in representations produced by early explorers beginning in the eighteenth century that were later rehashed first in novels and then in movies and television. It became most fully realized in the elaborate decoration found mostly in bars and restaurants. Although Tiki is a free (and thoroughly inaccurate) adaptation of traditional Polynesian art styles, it was a welcome novelty that became popular, indeed almost pervasive, in American society during the mid twentieth century. LEFT: Jake Verzosa, The Last Tattooed Kalinga Woman. 2011. Artist’s collection. © Jake Verzosa. BELOW: Tattoo pattern by Mark Kopua on a silicon mannequin created for the exhibition. Photo: Thomas Duval. © Musée du Quai Branly,. TATTOOISTS, TATTOOED Paris—Tattooing is undoubtedly one of the most ubiquitous cultural practices on the planet. It has existed in many civilizations over long periods of time, but it has no single or specific significance. While the tattoo has always been an indication of belonging to a group, it might be a symbol of bravery or wisdom or, on the contrary, one of marginality or ostracism. Nowadays, tattoo makers emphasize the artistic dimension of their work and tattooed individuals use their bodies to express what has become a veritable global language. The Musée du Quai Branly’s exhibition Tatoueurs tatoués (Tattooists, Tattooed), on view until October 18, 2015, examines the history of this custom and sheds light on its most recent evolutions through the presentation of more than 300 historical and contemporary works from around the globe. Designs created specifically for the event are presented on hyper-realistic models that faithfully imitate the human body, highlighting the works of contemporary tattoo masters. Another exhibition with the promising title Tiki Pop, l’Amérique Rêve son Paradis Polynésien (Tiki Pop: American Fantasies of a Polynesian Paradise) will be shown at the Quai Branly from June 24–September 28th. The more than 450 works and documents that make up the exhibition will chronicle the development of a popular and extravagant art form that embodies the distortions and erroneous interpretations of tribal art that Western perceptions have engendered. Although anthropologists and art historians struggle to refute the authenticity of these, paradoxically the hijacking of tribal imagery has become
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