Henk Schiffmacher

Hendrikus ("Henk") Johannes Everhardus Schiffmacher (born March 22, 1952 in Harderwijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch tattoo artist who is also considered an expert within the field of body decoration, having curated exhibitions, written books and presented television shows on the subject. He is also known as 'Hanky Panky'.

Schiffmacher has claimed members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, as well as Kurt Cobain, to be amongst his clients.cite web | author=| year=| title=About Henk | format=html | work=Official website | url=http://www.schiffmacher.nl/abouthenk.html | accessdate=2006-10-22]

Schiffmacher displayed a talent and love for drawing at an early age, and in the early 1970s studied at the Reclame School REX on the Frederiksplein in Amsterdam. Following stints in various jobs, including employment by the New Revu as a news photographer, Schiffmacher decided to travel. During his travels Schiffmacher became fascinated by the subject of tattooing, investigating the history of the subject, and upon his return to Amsterdam this fascination led to the artist opening a tattoo parlour.

Schiffmacher also began to organise tattoo conventions, and later wrote on the subject, with "Tattoos" published in 2001 and "1000 Tattoos" published in 2005. [cite web | author=| year=| title=Tattoos - Facts | format=html | work=Taschen Books | url=http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/popculture/all/facts/03208.htm | accessdate=2006-10-22] [cite web | author=| year=| title=1000 Tattoos - Facts | format=html | work=Taschen Books | url=http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/popculture/all/facts/01876.htm | accessdate=2006-10-22] During this period Schiffenmacher also presented a documentary on the subject, later released on dvd in the Netherlands as "World or Tattooing" in 2004. [cite web | author=| year=| title=The world of Tattooing (2005) | format=html | work=DVD-HOME, Nederlandstalige DVD website met dé R2 Releaselijst van Nederlands ondertitelde DVD's en meer! | url=http://www.dvd-home.nl/review/divers/wtattoo.htm | accessdate=2006-10-22 (Dutch)] On the 17 September 2004 an exhibition, "Wear Your Dreams", curated by Schiffenmacher, opened at the Aboriginal Art Museum in Utrecht. Schiffenmacher explained the title as a literal reading of the art of the tattoo and what it means in aboriginal culture: "These people have nothing. Everything they hold, they carry within. They only cover themselves for important events and rituals by using body decorations, thus revealing thoughts and ideas". The director of the museum noted Henk was well placed to curate the exhibition: "Henk is the one for an exhibition about body decorations. His approach has a strong affinity with Aboriginal culture and art." [cite press release | title =Henk Schiffmacher with WEAR YOUR DREAMS in the Aboriginal Art Museum | publisher =The Aboriginal Art Museum | date =6 September 2005 | url =http://www.aamu.nl/assets/files/news_73.pdf | accessdate =2006-10-22 (PDF)] Recently, Schiffmacher has turned to painting, and in 2004 an exhibition of his paintings was held in Antwerp.

In 1999, Schiffmacher took part in the celebrity version of the Dutch Big Brother, "Big Brother VIPS". [cite web | author=| year=2000| title=Big Brother Vips | format=html | work=Komodo Services | url=http://www.komodo-services.com/bb/vips/henkschiffmacher.phtml | accessdate=2006-10-22 (Dutch)]

In June 2006, Schiffmacher sued the Amsterdam clothing company, 10Feet, alleging they had used his images upon their t-shirts without permission. [cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Henk Schiffmacher sleept kledingmerk voor rechter | date=19 June 2006 | publisher=De Telegraaf | url=http://www.telegraaf.nl/prive/article44949521.ece?rss (Dutch)] The court ruled for Schiffmacher on all counts and ordered 10Feet to cease printing the t-shirts, fining the company 500 euro per summary infringement to a maximum of 25,000 euro. [cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=Tatookunstenaar wint kort geding | date=29 June 2006 | publisher=RTV Noord-Holland | url=http://www.rtvnh.nl/nieuws/laatstenieuws.asp?newsid=59164 (Dutch)]

In September 2007, the Schiffmachers starred in a TV show on Dutch channel AT5 about their lives and on 29 September 2007 the opening for the second Hanky Panky tattoo shop in Amsterdam for his daughter Morrison took place.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.schiffmacher.nl/index.php Official site] nl icon