Pavel Angel Arefiev
Pavel "Angel" Arefiev. Born in Voronezh. Master of art tattoo and airbrush, member of the Russian Guild of Professional Tattooists. Engaged in tattooing since 1991. He studied at Voronezh State University at the Faculty of Physics, which he later graduated from. After graduation he decided to develop his creativity instead of working in his profession. His artistic perception of the world formed thanks to his parents. In this direction he developed exclusively independently, studying anatomy, coloristics, composition, etc. Through communication with other artists I gained invaluable experience, collecting important information literally by grains. He discovered surrealism thanks to such artists as H.R. Giger, Zdzislaw Beksinski and others. His first work was made in the army, like many other beginners at that time. That's how it all began. On his return from the army he began to learn the complex craft of tattooing. I stood behind the back of the master, watched his work and drew and drew, that would later become a master, to earn a name and weight in the domestic tattoo industry. Later together with his wife opened his own studio in which Paul taught this difficult profession many young tattooists.
Won prizes at the first St. Petersburg Tattoo Convention. Winner of many domestic and foreign conventions, more than once won first places. Including: The Fourth International Tattoo Exhibition - Rome: Best Show; Tattoo Expo Leipzig: Best Small Tattoo; Milan Tattoo Convention two thousand eight years: 2 place - Best Back Piece; Prague Tattoo Convention two thousand seven years 1 place - colored tattoo 1 place - black and white tattoo 1 place - small tattoo 1 place - big tattoo best tattoo day best tattoo festival. He is the author and organizer of the Moscow International Tattoo Congress, where he works not only as a member of the jury, but also as one of the best tattoo artists in Russia, tattooing all comers. In his work gives preference to the genres of "new-school" and "biomechanics". Despite genre preferences he works in all styles and makes tattoos of any complexity.
Dmitry Yokai.
Photos of his work taken from the site www.tattoo-angel.ru/.
A selection of works by Pavel "Angel" Arefiev.
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Talking Behind the Back: Owners of "battered" backs talk about the subjects of their tattoos
The back is definitely a chic place for a tattoo: that's where you can capture a large drawing, a real story. Ironically, the wearer himself will only be able to see his tattoo with the help of two mirrors or a photograph. Having once made the largest drawing on the body, over time you can even forget what it looks like.
The back gives the tattooist an opportunity to "run wild", therefore as drawings for this place they often choose complex large subjects and pictures with a lot of small details. We decided to find out from the owners of such tattoos, what is depicted on their backs and how they chose these subjects, and to find them, FURFUR went to the weekend "Tattoo-Convention".
PAVEL "ANGEL", 40 YEARS OLD. TATU MASTER
On my back is one of Giger's famous paintings, familiar to everyone from the development of the appearance of Alien, as well as the development of the style of biomechanics. Specifically on my back is a picture of Lilith, which is a kind of female demon. According to legend, Lilith was Adam's first woman, and she did not accept Adam, which she reported to God's lambs. But God commanded her to be with him anyway, to which she told him she would rather go to the dark side than stay with this man. So she fled, but God's servants caught up with her near the Red Sea. Then she threw herself into the Red Sea and became Lucifer's concubine.
KONSTANTIN, 28 YEARS OLD. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
There's a picture of the angel of death on my back - he's just standing there, he's not doing anything special. No, well, of course he brings death and destruction, that's how it's supposed to be. On the back it's not fire, it's clouds. The tattoo isn't really done yet - I'll be getting a correction soon. Many people also compare my drawing to a character from the game Warcraft, but in fact this angel has nothing to do with it.
ANDREY, 37 YEARS OLD. "A VAGABOND IN LIFE."
Many people say that tattoos should carry a special sacred and hidden meaning, like high art, but this is all complete nonsense. My tattoo to me means a simple thought - "I fly where there is freedom" - I am a vagabond after all.
ALEXEY, 36 YEARS OLD. SPACECRAFT ENGINEER
This is as technogenic a tattoo as possible. In addition to being a design engineer, I'm also a horoscope Scorpio. Therefore, my back depicts a biomechanical robotic scorpion, which forcibly tattoos all of its victims - instead of the usual sting, it has a giant tattoo machine.
ALEXEI, 24 YEARS OLD. AN EMPLOYEE OF A COAL COMPANY
I have a fire-breathing dragon with flowers on my back - they mean prosperity, and the dragon kind of brings it. So this tattoo kind of brings me prosperity.
IVAN, AGE 23. STUDENT
I have a huge poster from the game Gears of War on my back - there's some guy with a chainsaw in the foreground and two more like that behind me. As it should be, the hero saves all the people and takes out the bad guys. But I just liked the picture, so I decided to capture it on my back.
IVAN, 22 YEARS OLD. APPRENTICE AT THE TATTOO STUDIO
All my tattoo - from the wrist to the back - the memory of my best friend, who, unfortunately, has already left us. He is one of the carriers of this rare style of tattooing in Saratov. Mine and his tattoos were very intertwined in terms of elements, we did them in parallel: we were very close with my buddy.
YELISEY, 24 YEARS OLD. 1C OPERATOR
I have a picture of a dragon on my back. It's just some Chinese dragon, doesn't mean anything special. At least for me, I just like the way it looks. And in fact, I came up with the picture myself.
ALEXANDER, 27 YEARS OLD. CEO
On my back, I have a picture of the artist Leonardo da Vinci's "Proportions of an ideal man," otherwise also called "Victorian Man" (Alexander is obviously referring to the "Vitruvian Man" - Ed. comment). I just finished getting this tattoo a few minutes ago. In fact, I was not guided by any philosophical sense of the work - I just liked the image.
BORIS, 33 YEARS OLD. TATTOO SHOP ADMINISTRATOR
I have four horsemen of the apocalypse drawn on my back. These four guys foreshadow the end of the world. The phrase on this tattoo, translated from Latin, reads, "Death cannot be avoided" - perfect, in my opinion, for a full-back tattoo.
Photo: Valery Belobeev
Tattooist from Siberia: A tattoo on the body is like a personal diary
Choosing the best one out of hundreds of works is very difficult
- Why did you decide to organize the Siberian Tattoo Festival? Did you wanted to prove something to society?
- I didn't want to prove anything to anyone. I just always liked to organize, back in high school I always encouraged my classmates to do something. And when I found out that there are tattoo festivals, I realized that it is cool, I have no idea how to do it, but I wanted to try. In Novosibirsk, I met Vova Babchuk, who had already held a festival in Chita. We became friends and started doing the festival here. It certainly can't be called a tool for making a profit, in the first few years we were on the contrary, we were at a loss.
- This year is the fifth anniversary of the festival. Have you noticed how the level has risen?
- Of course, every year we add 30% to all the parameters. It concerns the quality of works, geography, interesting things. This year, however, the geography was a bit smaller than last year - there were 15 Russian cities, and there were fewer foreign guests. Foreigners said they had never seen anything like it. Roughly speaking, we tried to make something like a pioneer camp. If other conventions are held in a rented room, somewhere in the city, where masters arrive in the morning, work for the day and in the evening, tired to get to their places of overnight stay, we did it differently. Everyone in one place out of town lives, works, and rests. We didn't have to worry about how to leave or where to sleep. Every half an hour there were master classes, the volume of communication was enormous.
- Who was among the participants, did you make a selection?
- Quite a large part of the masters was a personal invitation. There was no selection, random people simply did not ask to participate. I can't name anyone I would advise against inviting. More than 100 tattoo artists came, there were 80 tattoo booths. In Berlin, by comparison, there were 400 booths, and in Beijing, you can never get around the entire festival. By the way, we had a guest from there, the organizer of the Beijing convention. The tattoo artist gravitated toward the European style, which is rarely seen there. It is mostly the Japanese style, which we are familiar with. So he goes to Moscow, Barnaul, Novosibirsk and gains experience. Traditionally there were participants from Switzerland, Germany and Denmark. The Swiss Rossi was one of the most memorable. He says, that his mother is Thai, his father is Italian and he served ten years in the Special Forces. He is all colored and friendly, a very good-natured man.
Everything that happens in Transbaikalia and Chita
Everything that happens in the Transbaikalia and Chita
Everything that happens in Transbaikalia and Chita
- Judging must have been difficult, otherwise how could we choose the best among so many participants?
- The competition program is what the festival is all about. That's what tattoo artists go for - to get an award. Of course, it's not the main thing, but it gives more prestige to a master, because it's not bad to realize that you've won, say, 100 people in a creative contest, and it wasn't easy. There are a dozen nominations, mostly among the works that are already healed and prepared for participation. These are realistic tattoos, black and white, color, large, small, Japanese, ornaments, authorship. Accordingly, to choose the best, we need to think about the system of judging. Who should do it, in what categories? We, as organizers, are experimenting to make it better, developing techniques. Imagine that now 60 people will go on stage with different tattoos. How do we determine out of them who gets first, second and third place?
- And how would you do that?
- We decided to accept a new person on the jury every year, someone who had taken the grand prize in the previous contest. He doesn't need to participate anymore, he's proven to everyone that he's cool. We also invite those who, in our opinion, have an authority in creativity, who can show their choice and explain why they think so. I think the first thing they look at is the neatness of the work. This criterion is important in all painting and if it is well done it does not matter what style it is. Then composition, colors and details are taken into consideration. Obviously, all styles are different, but the concept of harmony and aesthetics is always the same.
- You had a lot of arguments, didn't you?
- Yes, and this is normal. There were times when people showed their tattoos and they disagreed and there was a point of contention. Before going on stage, the jury had already looked at all the photos and from all masses conditionally chose worthy works. There are times when you see a good job and give it, say, a 9 out of 10. A few people pass, and you meet another tattoo, so good that you realize - that past nine is not a nine at all.
There are even better tattoos of the day. There was a case where master Andrei Kolbasin came alone without models and said he could do the job for free. Our acquaintance came to him and he made her a tattoo on her hip in 4 hours. Everyone was amazed, how? He ended up taking the "tattoo of the day".
- Did he cheat?
- No. The terms of participation are very strict. You can't, like, do a back piece on a piece that's already done. That's not gonna fly. Moreover, we know everyone personally, every day we walk around the room, see who is registered, with what work. Everything is transparent, and the atmosphere was not one to cheat.
The festival was different in its atmosphere. On the one hand, there was the exhibition, and on the other hand, there was personal communication. It is also an important part of the festival and we came to this camp format for a reason. After work you get tired, in the past participants worked it off and went to their hotels. In this one, there was no need to go anywhere. You could go to a bar and socialize, listen to great bands from different regions. There was Moloka Stakan, fellow countrymen. They're good.
