Remembering London's premiere tattoo shop

Whilst flicking through a hard-drive, I came across some photos I thought I’d lost. Or at least, that I’d filed away so deeply I didn’t think I’d ever find them again. But there they were.

Almost three years ago, in October 2016, Clerkenwell’s legendary tattoo parlour, Into You, closed when its lease ran out.  For 23 years it was considered the premier custom tattoo shop in London. Started in 1993 by Alex Binnie and piercer Teena Marie, the shop at 144 St John St quickly became a haven and meeting place for like-minded people and legends of the tattooing world. As Binnie put it “Tattooing is not a job, and Into You is not a business”

For it’s last year Alex asked a friend, Brighton artist Jim Sanders, to create something to mark the closure. Using raw materials Alex provided, along with images from others at the shop, Sanders created something in his unique style. One of the main elements were enlargements of some of the woodcut portraits Alex had done of the people who worked in the shop. (An accomplished artist himself, Binnie had a woodcut portrait accepted into the 2010 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and in 2012 published ‘The Woodcut Portraits’, an impressive limited edition book.)

The installation took Sanders one very busy week to complete, the walls covered as with the skin; with nothing left untouched, and reflecting the same themes of imagery, mythology, astrology, symbolism, sex, and death.

The visual bombardment acted as reminder to regular visitors of what had gone on there for the past 23 years, and a giving a real sense of wonder for those encountering the place for the first time. Like me, I suppose.

I had toyed with getting a tiny-weeny tattoo there myself, but sadly left it too late. So I won’t be joining there past clients Kate Moss, Boy George, Alexander McQueen, members of the Prodigy, Chilli Peppers, Metallica. And, er, Britney Spears.

Alex, and some of the staff, are now at Brighton’s 1770, which had been a ‘sister shop’ to the original Clerkenwell tattoo shop.

The London Tattoo Convention has a retrospective of Alex Binnie’s works on 27th, 28th and 29th September 2019. He’ll be displaying his signature lino, woodcut and screenprints along with the release of his new book ‘Burning Bright’ in conjunction with tattoo art publishers Raking Light Projects. https://bit.ly/2kEIXYH

Chris Walker @Clerkenwell101