Presenting a range of media by fifteen artists who also tattoo, Human Marks: Tattooing in Contemporary Art unpacks how the ethics, strategies, and concerns of tattooing shape the artists’ studio practices in experimental and revelatory ways.

Human Marks presents the full creative spectrum of artists who maintain both tattoo and studio practices to ask what the world of fine art can learn from today’s tattoo community.

With a range of surprising media—from paintings made with human blood to wearable works in silicone and even perfumery—themes of ritual, ethics, and identity tie together the materially dynamic, unexpected, and challenging artwork featured in Human Marks.

Featured artists include Kaur Alia Ahmed, Oz Bardos, Makoto Chi, Nassim Dayoub, Evan Paul English, Gesiye, Don Ed Hardy, Ciara Havishya, Dr. Lakra, Christopher Martin, Duke Riley, Miller Robinson, Tamara Santibañez, Lyric Shen, and Jayna Won, with additional contributions by Kaur Alia Ahmed, Makoto Chi, Nassim Dayoub, Don Ed Hardy, Tamara Santibañez, Fiona Smith, Stevie Soares, Marcia Tucker, and V. Vale

Authored and edited by Carrie Cushman

Designed by Frank Javier Mondragón

Published by Hartford Art School Galleries and Hirmer Verlag, 2026

Hardcover, 280 pages, 150 color plates, 9.25 × 12.52 inches

ISBN: 978-3-77-744489-5