Needle Work

Reviews / Votes

"This meticulously researched volume is essential reading on the understudied development, practice, business, and (art) history of commercial tattooing in Canada. As the first book dedicated to the subject, Needle Work breaks new theoretical ground on mechanized body marking and honours the contributions of groundbreaking and long-forgotten tattoo practitioners working north of the American border." Lars Krutak, author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity "Joseph 'Sailor Joe' Simmons would probably be pissed off that you don't recognize his name. Canadian-born Simmons hustled his way across North America during the early to mid-twentieth century, showing off his world-record number of tattoos, organizing a 'Pigmy Village' exhibition, and marketing his 'positively painless' tattooing method to the public while evading the FBI and RCMP. Simmons's story is just one of the threads woven through Jamie Jelinski's Needle Work. Wonderfully illustrated, it is the first study devoted entirely to the development of Canada's rich modern tattooing tradition. Jelinski introduces the reader to a cast of innovators, agitators, and entrepreneurs, drawing from the art, lives, and businesses of these and other tattooists to explore the twentieth-century trajectory of professional tattooing in Canada. A must-have for researchers, students, and tattooists wanting to better understand the history of this line of work." Aaron Deter-Wolf, co-editor of Ancient Ink: The Archaeology of Tattooing "A landmark publication that takes the tattoo industry as a subject for serious, extended art historical study. Needle Work is a vibrant, compelling combination of excellent archival research, careful and innovative methods, and focused visual analysis. By locating his study in Canada, Jelinski takes a deep dive into a tattoo scene about which little is known even within the industry, placing it into conversation with tattooing in the United Kingdom, in the United States, and around the world. The book has much to reveal not only about tattooing, but about human lives in general." Matt Lodder, author of Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos "Jelinski has given us a deeply respectful study of the tattooing industry." Charlotte Gray, Canada's History << Enrichi d'une vaste collection de photos d'archives, Needle Work est une immersion fascinante et assez pointue destinee a un lectorat averti. >> Quebec Science << Needle Work *propose une histoire rocambolesque et imagee de ce monde en ebullition. A premiere vue, toute cette encre bue par de mauvaises peaux semblait un phenomene marginal, mais en realite, il s'agissait aussi d'une histoire profondement sociale, culturelle, artistique et politique. Une histoire entre panique morale, hygienisme et journaux a scandale. Une histoire etrangement pancanadienne, que le chercheur Jamie Jelinski raconte avec erudition. >> *Nouveau Projet "Needle Work is a valuable resource for anyone interested in art, history, or the evolution of tattoo culture. A captivating and comprehensive book." Montreal Review of Books "[Needle Work] does an outstanding job illuminating and extending earlier literature, not only on tattooing but also on several other areas of scholarship. Jelinski has made his text available to a wide-ranging audience." Canadian Historical Review "Jelinski is a supple storyteller. [Needle Work] is valuable for its facts and footnotes. Illustrations in colour and black and white support the painstaking research and the rollicking narrative romps." Ornamentum