Russian Prison Tattoo-Inspired Silk Tapestries Featured In New Williamsburg Exhibit

WILLIAMSBURG — Russian prison ink can be art and one Argentinian tattooist would like to prove it to you.

Joaquin Motor, 30 a tattoo artist from Buenos Aires, will display his collection of silk tapestries lined with the “crude and violent imagery” of Russian prison tattoos in Williamsburg this weekend.

“Memories Of Them: Drawings From Inside The Cage,” was inspired a collection of Russian prisoner's DIY tattoos the artist found in a bookstore in Buenos Aires about five years ago, Motor said.

"Every drawing had a meaning," said Motor of the icon-laden tattoo work. "You could read a person’s life through his body tattoos."

The enormous black silks, which will hang in Williamsburg's Fleur Noir from June 3 to June 10, are meant explore the contrast of the prisoners’ brutal imaginations and their use of a delicate and vulnerable canvas — their own bodies, Motor said.

"Silk is a soft material and maybe kind of fragile — it makes this opposite situation with a rough drawing," Motor explained. "The straight, rigid white line with the black silk is a contrast."

The Fleur Noir tattoo parlor — which hosts artists from Turkey, France, Russia, Italy and more — will exhibit Motor's work in its fine art gallery, where owners showcases artwork examining places where cultures collide.

"We want to celebrate the low-brow as high-brow art culture that tattooing is developing at the moment," said Fleur Noir spokeswoman Morgan English. "The more we can build that conversation, the better our industry will do."

The one-week exhibit will kick off with a party at Fleur Noire at 439 Metropolitan Ave. on Saturday, June 3 from 8 p.m. to midnight, organizers said.

The tapestries, ranging in price from $300 to $1000, will hang on the walls without frames behind the various tattoo stations and there will also be $20-$30 prints available for purchase.

While the shop will shut down tattoo production during the event, guests inspired by Motor's work are encouraged to return, as Motor will be "guesting" at the parlor for the next week.

Motor hopes the exhibit will challenge its viewers to take a closer look at the tattoos they see in the world around them.

"Every physical tattoo has a reason," said Motor. "Maybe some people are more open about sharing the reason, but every body has a story."

Header images courtesy of Fleur Noire.