Tattoo Car
Prior to the exhibition Betsabeé Romero, Cars & Traces the Mexican contemporary artist Betsabeé Romero worked several days on her Tattoo Car. With nine art students and the Amsterdam tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher, she transformed an old Volkswagen Beetle into artwork in the garden of the Tropenmuseum.
Romero marked the 'skin' of the Volkswagen Beetle with 'tattoos' that are popular with gang members in Central America, called Mara Salvatrucha's. The tattoos give them strength, protection and a common identity. For Romero, tattoos are not arbitrary but they do tell about the history of death and violence. She combined these images with typical Dutch tattoos of anchors, ships and pirates.
Dinky Toy
After the exhibition, Betsabeé Romero has made a Dinky Toy (miniature model) of the Tattoo Car.
"It sounds great that the car begins his globetrotter life.” - Betsabeé Romero
The making of
Nine art students and the Amsterdam tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher contributed to this work of art. They worked on the car from 18 September until 22 September in the Garden of the Royal Tropical Institute. Watch the making of the Tattoo Car:
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“ While the students devoted themselves to any one particular part of the car, Romero took care of the bonnet and the overall concept of the car. Romero left the artwork on the roof over to the tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher who was accompanied by his assistant, his wife and daughter. They all made a contribution to this work of art.”
View some photos of the making of on Flickr.
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