The Inkmen cometh

FIVE ARTISTS TO LOOK OUT FOR

AT THE CONVENTION

Davee Blows (Poland)

There he blows, but Davee doesn't suck. This peripatetic Pole has shocked and amazed with his lurid new-school psychedelic cyberpunk manga madness in 40 countries and counting, picking up awards such as "best crazy", "best colour" and "best tattoo" at tat-fests from Krakow to Lviv, and Prague to Paris. If a gargoyle geisha with a snake's body writhing Godzilla-like around a day-glo manga metropolis while the Batman signal glows overhead sounds about your speed, Blows is your man.

Diau An (Taiwan)

The island's big man of tattoo has wowed them from New York to Tokyo with his mesmerisingly detailed fusion of traditional Japanese-style tattoos and calligraphy given a contemporary spin. Commands upward of US$250 an hour at the big festivals. He also knows how to carve wood, and to carve vivid and sometimes disturbing images into the tattoo world's collective memory.

Jimmy Yuen (HK)

The master's apprentice, Jimmy moved from Taipei to learn his trade under Hong Kong heavyweight Gabe Shum at Ace Dragon Tattoo, and later followed him to Freedom. Known for his sublime monochromatic sleeves and an eye for the unexpected, that's pretty much what you should expect when Jimmy Yuen fires up the needle.

Little Dragon Xu Long Qi (China)

The mainland's master of the macabre these days slings his ink in the Big Apple at Paul Booth's Last Rites Tattoo Theatre. Zombie Boy-wannabes and Rob Zombie die-hard fans have found their man. The fevered nightmares etched into flesh by the Little Dragon and his creepy cohorts at Last Rites make the Addams Family look like the Brady Bunch.

Hori Shou (Taiwan)

Hori Shou is Taiwan's quiet achiever, a sleeves-up, down-to-business tattoo artist who cannot be pinned down to a particular style but slides from one genre and school to the next, the tattoo world's chameleon and shapeshifter. Whether it's lovingly ironic old-school sailor tattoos, bright-coloured floral designs or hardcore gangster full-back classics, the Hori Shou show never disappoints.

Jason Gagliardi