Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.05.2006, Qupperneq 20

“In Sweden, there are about 250.000 people for every tattoo
artist,” says Svanur, the owner of Tattoo & Skart, a tattoo and
piercing studio. “Here we have five studios located on an area
the size of a post-stamp.”
In addition to the five tattoo studios operating on
Laugavegur and the parallel Hverfisgata in central Reykjavík,
there is also a successful studio in Keflavík. These six studios
employ at least 8 resident artists, and there is an increasing de-
mand for guest spots. In a country of 300,000 people, it is hard
to imagine a more favourable artist per capita ratio.
“It hasn’t always been like this,” says Svanur who has been
running his tattoo and piercing shop on Hverfisgata along with
his wife Sessa since the year 2000. “When we first opened, there
were five tattoo shops in Reykjavík. In 2003, I was the only one
left. Now, it is back up to five again.”
Is it possible for such a small market to support this many
shops?
“It seems so,” he says. “I will be adding a 2nd artist here for
the summer, an Icelandic guy called Jón Þór who tattoos at the
English Rose tattoo studio in England. Otherwise I can’t keep
up.”
A part of the explanation for the constant activity is that
bigger and more time-consuming pieces have been more in de-
mand lately. “People come in and ask for bigger pieces than they
did a few years ago. We do a lot of full-sleeves and half-sleeves
now. People want their whole arm or their whole back covered.
People also prefer more colourful tattoos today,” Sessa explains.
I ask her if that goes for women as well.
“Not really, we do see more of them, but getting big tattoos
is still mainly a guy thing. The girls are usually satisfied with
getting something smaller. They would rather buy a new pair of
jeans then get a tattoo.”
What’s My Name?
I ask Svanur how the Icelandic artists compare to their col-
leagues abroad.
“Well, we don’t measure up to the world’s finest just yet, but
there is incredible progress being made here. I’ve been doing
this for 13 years and I am constantly getting better. We have
made a point of going to tattoo conventions in other countries
and bring quality guest artists to our shop, people we can learn
from. That is really the only way to improve, work with, and
learn from, someone who is better than you.”
And what does it take to be a successful tattoo artist?
“Dedication. You have to be really occupied with tattooing
24/7. I usually wake up in the morning to make my needles,
in the afternoon I come into the shop and tattoo, and in the
evenings I draw and design tattoos for my clients.”
“It also helps to be open to new things, be humble,” he tells
me. “As soon as you start thinking you know it all, you are not
going to learn new things. There is always room for improve-
ment.”
He adds that the first annual Reykjavík Tattoo convention
is coming up. “It will be the second weekend in June. It is going
to be a vitamin injection to the scene here. All the local artists
working under one roof, with some really good foreign artists. I
think it will really do us all good.”
What about Icelandic tattoo culture? Is there anything
specific that could be considered a traditional Icelandic tattoo?
“The old runes are of course very symbolic of Iceland. A lot
of tourists come here and they want to get a rune tattooed as
souvenir from their stay here in Iceland. I am not sure that is
common anywhere else.”
Another oddity is names. “Iceland is the only place where
people ask me to tattoo their own name on them. Every week
people come in and want a tattoo of their own name.”
Healthy Competition
Búri is a young local tattoo artist. He has been running the
Icelandic Tattoos studio on Hverfisgata since May 2005, in
cooperation with his former mentor Jón Páll, formerly the lead
character designer for the Eve Online computer game and now
the lead artist for Lazy Town productions. When I bring up the
number of tattoo parlours in Reykjavík in our conversation, he
sounds perplexed.
“It sort of surprised us. We didn’t really expect Reykja-
vík would be able to support this many shops, but nobody is
complaining, everybody is working. We have a steady stream
of customers, so it seems to be working. In the summer time,
it can be difficult to get an appointment and it is hard for us to
keep up. It is slower in the winters for some reason, during the
winter we get more people who are coming in for larger pieces
that take many sessions to finish.”
But he doesn’t see the competition as a bad thing. Rather, it
brings out the best in the Icelandic artists.
“The key to being a good tattoo artist is healthy competition
and the ambition to be the best,” he says. “Iceland is a very small
market so there is a lot of competition here, everybody wants to
be the best. The Icelandic artists are progressing a lot because of
the competition here. You never stop learning in this business. I
have met people who have been doing this for over 30 years and
they are still learning new things.”
For Búri, professionalism is very important, and he takes his
job very seriously.
“There are a lot of dodgy people involved in the tattoo in-
dustry. It is important to be professional about the work. If I am
not feeling good, you know, If am having a bad day, or just have
a cold, I will cancel all my appointments for the day. I am really
doing people a favour. If you are not focused, you are not going
to be putting out your best work. People who are making the
commitment to have a tattoo at least deserve to have you doing
your best work.”
Do you see a lot of fashion swings in tattooing?
“No matter how you fight it, tattoos are always going to be
little fashion oriented, different styles become popular. A few
years ago, everybody wanted a tribal tattoo. It often comes from
movies. After From Dust ‘til Dawn came out, more than a few
people came in to get a sort of tribal tattoo from the wrist up to
the neck, like George Clooney’s character had. It also happened
after Oceans 12. People want a tattoo like Brad Pitt, or David
Beckham, although we see less of that now.
What are people getting now instead?
“People are coming in for much larger pieces now. We do a
lot of half-sleeves and full sleeves and whole back pieces,” says
Búri. “Colour has been coming in more and more. Different
styles are popular, Japanese tradition, old school tattoos. There
are a lot more of individual designs where we help people out
with designing the tattoo and drawing it up. I like doing Japa-
nese traditional tattoos. I always feel good when I stand up from
doing one those. But there is much more variety today.”
Tattoo City
The Grapevine Discovers Another Per Capita Record
by sveinn birkir björnsson photo by skari
“Iceland is the only place where
people ask me to tattoo their own
name on them. Every week people
come in and want a tattoo of their
own name.”
Reykjavík Tattoo shops
Tattoo og skart
Hverfisgata 108, 101 Reykjavík
552 7800
Íslenzka húðflúrstofan
Hverfisgata 39, 101 Reykjavík
552 7913
J.P. Tatto
Laugavegur 54, 101 Reykjavík
551 9070
House of Pain
Laugavegur 45, 101 Reykjavík
555 4015
Tattoo 69
Laugavegur 69, 101 Reykjavík
551 7955
38 39