Dark Arts: Matt Bailey

EXPLORING THE UNIQUE ART OF THE TATTOO

THE DARK ARTS

04 / FEATURING THE WORK OF MATT BAILEY

I personally draw a distinction between traditional artists and the new kind of artists we are seeing who are illustrators first and foremost but who go onto apply their craft to skin. These kind of artists will never deviate from one kind of style. Matt Bailey is one such artist. He is an illustrator who also happens to use skin as his canvas. Like Kelly Violet, whom I also featured in this series, Matt works out of Parliament Tattoo in London.

With over 400k followers on Instagram, Bailey's illustrative narrative on sex, death and organised religion is certainly hitting a note in the tattoo and arts industries. In Bailey's art, death is certainly having the absolute time of his life, enjoying the many delights of the female form. His artwork often features lines from songs, some of which relate to the image and some of which only make sense to the man himself.

With a thriving line in merchandise already, Bailey has certainly made his mark in a very short space of time. Death never had it so good.