The Kinsey Institute Gallery will display images of tattoos in art, photographs, and other materials from the institute’s permanent collections in an exhibit that will run July 9 through September 21, 2012. Ephemeral Ink features depictions of tattoos and tattooing that provide a glimpse into the evolution of tattooing style and technique over the course of a hundred years. Individuals from many walks of life and of all ages have had their bodies marked with needle and ink, for both personal and professional reasons. These marks change through time as bodies age, inks change, and tattoos are added to, covered up, or otherwise altered. Vintage and contemporary photographs in Ephemeral Ink allow us to see people’s tattoos at particular moments in their lives.

Materials in the exhibition include flash art, images of tattoos by notable artists Les Skuse and Bert Grimm, artwork by Utagawa Kunisada, Alberto Martini, Kirk Richard Smith, and Samuel Steward, and a selection of text materials and ephemera from the Kinsey Institute library. There are also works by anonymous and known fine art photographers, including Herbert Ascherman, Jeff Crisman, Jess T. Dugan, Michael Grecco, Chas Ray Krider, June Yong Lee, George Platt Lynes, Dianora Niccolini, Len Prince, Rahul A. Saha, Michele Serchuk, Tom Stio, and Michael Wenzler. The exhibition was curated by Amy Tims, a historian and librarian who recently graduated from the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science.

The Kinsey Institute Gallery is open 1:30 to 5:00 pm weekdays, Indiana University, Morrison Hall 3rd Floor. Admission is free. Due to adult content, visitors should be 18 years of age or older, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

• COST: free

• WHERE: IU Kinsey Institute, Morrison Hall 313, Bloomington. 812-855-7686

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