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Cultural Activity Report: The Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts

Decent Essays

CULTURAL ACTIVITY REPORT
By
Jeremy W. Baird

WEEK 10 - ASSIGMENT 3

9/1/2015

Professor: Ed Yancey
Cultural Activity Report
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is located in Richmond, VA. My wife and I decided to take a trip there on August 29th, specifically for this assignment. There were many interesting exhibits there that caught my eye and we spent the better part of a day exploring it all. Although not directly related to what we have been studying, one of the exhibits that I found most interesting was Japanese Tattoo: Perseverance, Art, and Tradition. This exhibit’s was created by artists and photographer Kip Fulbeck. The reason behind choosing this exhibit is because I have mixed feelings about tattoos. While I personally would …show more content…

Many individuals were shown naked from the back. For most of the subjects, the amount of artwork shown goes down from their neck to just below the buttocks. Some images even cover the chest and belly areas as well. There is an amazing amount of detail that goes into these pieces of art. It takes a lot of dedication from both the artists and the subject to have these items completed. Most require multiple visits to the tattoo artists and hours of work per visit. One interesting fact that I learned is that even though it is known as Japanese tattoo, having a tattoo is actually considered quasi-illegal in Japan (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2015). Kip Fulbeck tells us in this video that even having a small tattoo can prevent him from going into health clubs and bath …show more content…

He specializes in what is called Shichibu, which is basically a type of tattoo sleeve that goes 7/10 of the forearm (Tatu-Tattoo, 2012). There is one particular piece by this artist that sticks out. It is of a young to middle aged Asian woman, and her tattoos are on her arms in the form of the 7/10 sleeves and partial chest piece. What is interesting about this tattoo is the use of color and the different images that show up on each of her arms. One side seems to have a dragon or koi fish, while the other seems to have some sort of demon that appears to be eating a snake.
A third photograph that is especially interesting was one of a snake done by a tattoo artist in San Francisco named Luke Stewart. His piece is a full back piece that appears from the subjects shoulders to their upper thigh and along their back. It is of a snake twisting and winding through what looks like a lotus garden. There are dark clouds as a background that make the rest of the image brighter and seems to come to

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