This informal afternoon session – with a bar! - will involve short talks on the lives and works of Alan Oversby (aka Mr Sebastian), the first professional body piercer in the UK and key tattooer to London’s gay scene, and Rudi Inhelder, a gay optical physicist from Switzerland who was – as president of the Tattoo Club of America – a key organisational figure in the history of tattooing.
Legendary tattooers Alex Binnie and Lal Hardy, who knew Alan and Rudi, will be in attendance. The session will also provide time and space for attendees to peruse the extensive holdings of material at the Bishopsgate, including:
- Photos, drawings, and explicit tattoo flash and stencils from Mr Sebastian
- Slides and volumes of photography taken by Rudi Inhelder at tattoo conventions across Europe and America throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. These photos include work by artists including Ed Hardy, Sailor Jerry, Doc Forbes and others, as well as a folder of business carfs from European and Japanese tattoo artists.
- A trove of tattoo magazines from the UK and the US from the 1990s and 2000s
- Antique and modern material relating to piercing and tattooing in the context of fetishism
- A small collection of books relating to tattooing and tattoo history
Attendees are encouraged to bring drawing supplies with them to engage creatively with the archival material. We particularly welcome attendance from tattoo artists, who may wish to use this material in their own practice.
Additional Information
- Online ticket sales will close two hours prior to the event starting.
- If sales have closed and you would still like to attend, to enquire about availability please contact our Box Office team via 020 73929200. If spaces remain we can arrange payment over the phone.
- If you have any accessibility needs or concerns please email us at enquiries@bishopsgate.org.uk.
Need to Know
Meet the Speaker
Dr Matt Lodder
Dr Matt Lodder is an art historian, curator, writer, podcaster and broadcaster. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Art History and Theory, and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Art History at the University of Essex. His research primarily concerns the application of art-historical methods to history of Western tattooing from the 17th century to the present day, with a principal focus on the professional era from the 1880s onwards.
His first monograph, Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos, was published in 2022. His next book, Tattoos: The Untold History of a Modern Art, was released by Yale University Press in 2024. His latest major exhibition, British Tattoo Art Revealed, began at the National Maritime Museum Falmouth in March 2017 and toured the UK through to 2021. His podcast, Beneath the Skin, was recently voted best independent history podcast in the UK.
What We Do
