Tattoo Philosophy: Salvador Dali’s Work as a Tattoo
Salvador Dali, the famous Spanish surrealist painter, is an artist that most recognize by name. Those who don’t know Dali are easily prompted with the reminder that he’s the “melted clocks painter.” Everyone knows the melted clocks (Or, “The Persistence of Memory,” should the question arise on Trivial Pursuit). What does Spanish surrealism have to do with tattoos?
After seeing a lovely rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night as a full back tattoo, I have been fascinated by famous works of art as subjects for tattoos. For that reason, I began to do an informal survey of tattoo galleries searching for which famous artists’ works seem to be the most prevalent subjects of tattoos.
In perusing websites with extensive tattoo galleries, it seemed to me that Salvador Dali-inspired ink was far, far more common than Van Gogh, Picasso, and other artists whose works have found their way onto flesh. Why is that?
What is it about Dali that inspires people to carry his work on their skin permanently? His paintings aren’t “pretty” in any sort of traditional sense. Many are nightmarish perceptions - strange, twisted takes on reality. Some suggest suffering, and they present something frightening, unsettling and uncomfortable.
Perhaps that statement explains exactly what the attraction to Dali is for some tattoo enthusiasts. Tattoos aren’t associated with traditional beauty. although it certainly isn’t hard to see the beauty in tattoos and tattooed people. The self-infliction of pain goes against the most basic human instincts, but we do it anyway for the sake of a good tattoo or a well-placed piercing. To many, the sight of a heavily-modified person, be it tattoos, piercings or other mods, stirs a reaction of fascination and horror. A cross between “Look at that!” and “Why would she do that to herself?”
Maybe Dali makes a whole lot of sense for a tattoo.
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