Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art [Hardcover]

Rolling Stone (Author), David Ritz (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2002

"Tattoo Nation" exposes this dynamic art form in all its glory as embodied by the biggest pop icons of our time, from Drew Barrymore to Eminem, Melissa Etheridge to Ozzy Osbourne, Busta Rhymes to Mary J. Blige. The book features candid photographs and revealing interviews that chronicle the gradual emergence of this evocative art form into mainstream society via pop-culture icons. Black-and-white photo spreads present pop and rock icons ranging from counter-culture pioneers like Janis Joplin to today's trendsetters Bjork and Lenny Kravitz showing off their body artwork.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Popularized by sailors and bikers, tattoos have become indispensable fashion accessories for rockers and rappers, whose professional responsibility it is to embody exotic, outlaw primitivism to the public. Hence this coffee-table collection of photographs of tattooed celebrities culled from the pages of Rolling Stone. The portraits here, by famous celebrity and fashion photographers, are heavily weighted toward sleeveless, scowling male musicians, whose remarkably consistent tattoo tastes run to a comic book aesthetic of gothic lettering, deaths heads, dragons and babes (until they age and begin inscribing wives' and childrens' names into their flesh). Accompanying interviews and captions allow the subjects to pontificate on the personal significance of their tattoos ("Weed was the biggest part of my life at that point," muses Crazytown's Shifty Shellshock of his marijuana-leaf tattoo). While fans of the celebrities pictured here will swoon over the lush photos, the book fails to make the case for tattoos as real works of art capable of signifying something to onlookers as well as to their owners.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

David Ritz is a three-time winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award and has co-authored a number of best-selling biographies inc. those on Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and the Neville Brothers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1 edition (November 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821227815
• ISBN-13: 978-0821227817
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,149,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars very disappointing, October 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art (Hardcover)

I was totally psyched about this book when I first heard about it months ago,so I was keenly disappointed to find out that it's not at all what I thought it would be-see,since it's from the publishers of Rolling Stone I assumed it would feature photographs that have appeared in RS,by photographers like Mark Seliger and David LaChapelle...NOPE,the portaits you'll find in this book are ones you've seen a million times,in countless publications.The WORST thing about this book,the thing that really annoyed me,was how pathetically underrepresented WOMEN are.There are only a few women in the entire book,and the pictures aren't even good.A few of the portraits of male musicians are okay,which is why I gave this 2 stars rather than 1.But on the whole I wouldn't recommend buying this book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Photographs of the famous..Oh yes and some tattoos., December 25, 2002

By 

Todd l Slezak (Truckee, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art (Hardcover)

I was disappointed when I received this book. The title is very deceitful. What the book really showed was posed photographs of rock stars and actors. What was not shown were detailed photographs of tattoos, nor was there really any explanation or narrative about the individual photograph itself. The book is weak and definately not for someone interested in tattoos. However, if your interested in photographs of a few famous people, you should buy the book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Body Art, April 9, 2011

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art (Rolling Stone Magazine) (Paperback)

Look around and likely your eyes will fall upon many a tattooed person. The fad is at its height and even youngsters are getting inked. This book concentrates on the body art as selected and displayed by some celebrities, mostly form the world of pop music culture. The tattoos vary greatly, from subtle tiny statements to total boy inking. Many of the tattoos illustrated are accompanied by statements by or interviews with the 'living canvas' on which they are painted. There are about a hundred images of musicians and pop-culture heroes gathered by the magazine Rolling Stone, and the images vary form black and white photographs to full color reproductions. Of note, there is a page devoted to actor/producer Mark Wahlberg in his early days as a rapper; his tattoos include a 'neck chain' with the phrase 'In God I Trust' also with some arm art - little of which is extant - unless makeup artists have their way with these inkings....

Whether the tattoo urge will grow or fade is not known, but this book will interest those who participate in inking as well as those who desire a closer look at celebrity 'art'. Grady Harp, April 11