Dark art and horror tattooing.
The reason the shop exists. Horror is not a theme applied to a tattoo here, it is what the artists draw whether or not anybody is paying them to.
Start an inquiryWhat this actually means.
Dark illustrative work sits somewhere between an etching and an anatomical plate: texture built out of line and dot rather than shading, with the horror in the detail rather than in the shock. It suits creatures, skulls, decay, and anything that should look like it was drawn from life by somebody who should not have been looking.
Half of Tomb is a gallery for exactly this reason. The same hands that tattoo also paint, sculpt masks and build special effects pieces, and the work on the walls is made in the back of the shop rather than bought in. If you want something that belongs in that room, you are in the right place.
Bring the feeling as well as the reference. Saying what a piece should do to somebody looking at it is often more useful to the artist than a folder of pictures.
Asked about dark art and horror tattooing.
- What kind of tattoos does Tomb Gallery do?
- Dark art, blackwork and horror. That is what the shop is built around and what every artist here is strongest at. If what you want sits a long way outside that, we will tell you honestly and point you somewhere better.
- Is Tomb Gallery a tattoo shop or an art gallery?
- Both, and that is the point. One half is a tattoo studio. The other is a working gallery with original art, masks and special effects pieces made in house, a collection of oddities and specimens, and group exhibitions through the year. You can walk in and look at all of it without booking anything.
- Can I bring my own design?
- Bring the idea and bring references. What you will not get is a traced copy of another tattooist's work, because that is someone else's drawing. Your artist will take what you are after and draw it for you and for the placement you picked.
Also at Tomb.
Tomb Gallery & Tattoo is at 274-276 Essex St, Salem, MA 01970. 11am to 6pm, seven days a week through September and October.