 Untitled, 2003 ink on vintage magazine, 23.5 x 31 cm Courtesy: kurimanzutto, Mexico DR LAKRA Dr Lakra is a tattoo artist living and working near Mexico City. In his parallel activities here, however, Dr Lakra transfers his draughtsmanship onto the idealised figures in vintage magazines. Pin-up girls, wrestlers, foxes and cuties are tattooed and "enhanced" in ink with bats, demons, spiders and the faces of pouting vixens. Like pertinent graffiti, the relative innocence of another era is politicised and the images are infused with a relish for the diabolical. In these 1940s and 50s images the figure represents an archetype, and the artist's inky interventions become fantastic symbolism, a grungy wet dream. Beautification or social identification, the works are a carnival of the grotesque. Kitschy erotica, ancient ritual, and hallucinogenic visions are fused in a collage of ideologies. Dr Lakra (Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez) was born in Mexico in 1970. He has worked as a tattoo artist all over the world. This is his first exhibition in the UK. 26 September - 2 November 2003 Hours: Thu-Sun 12am - 6pm or by appointment. Kate MacGarry Gallery 95-97 Redchurch Street UK-London E2 7DJ Telephone +44 020.7613 3909 E-Mail mail@katemacgarry.com www.katemacgarry.com |
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