arresting art

For much of modern history, tattoos have drifted in and out of legality. This is not based on the art itself, but on fear, stigma, and misguided ideas of morality. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tattoos were closely associated with sailors, circus performers, criminals, and the working poor. As governments pushed for public “decency” and social control, tattooing was often framed as dangerous, unsanitary, or morally corrupt rather than the legitimate craft it’s beginning to be recognized as today. (We were pretty surprised in fact when, in our shop group chat, one of our artists shared an ad she came across from a BANK that featured a tattoo artist. Sounds pretty legit!)

One of the most famous bans occurred in New York City, where tattooing was illegal for nearly four decades, from 1961 to 1997. The ban followed a hepatitis outbreak that was wrongly blamed on tattoo studios, despite little evidence linking professional tattooing to the disease. To be fair, health standards in tattooing are much stricter now than they were in the sixties! 

Meanwhile, in Japan, tattoos were outlawed in 1872 during the Meiji period (1868-1912) as part of an effort to appear “civilized” to Western nations, creating a long-lasting association between tattoos and organized crime that still affects tattooed people today. On the other hand, the symbolism of hidden beauty and rebellion via tattoos was also cemented.

In other places, including parts of the Soviet Union and Europe, tattoos were heavily policed or stigmatized because of their links to prisoners, rebellion, and political dissent. Incidentally, many of these restrictions helped fuel an underground tattoo culture where tattoos evolved into a powerful symbol of identity, resistance, and personal autonomy. 

Today’s global tattoo renaissance exists largely because artists and collectors pushed back against laws rooted more in fear than fact. So… thanks, rebels!