The undisputed “king” of French tattoo artists says his industry is struggling to win recognition as an art form on a par with painting or music.
“Everything proves that we are artists according to the Unesco definition,” said Tin-Tin, whose clients have included fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, the rapper Joey Starr and tennis legend Yannick Noah.The main organiser of a recent world-class tattoo expo, he quotes the Unesco definition of an artist verbatim – “any person who creates ... and who considers his artistic creation to be an essential part of his life, who contributes in this way to the development of art and culture.”