Went to see the new show at Nelly Duff gallery last night...and quite a show it is too! I confess i'd never heard of Dutch artist/tattoo artist Angelique Houtkamp before but after seeing her work i'm most definitely a big fan.

 

Her first UK show, "Folies les femmes" has a really nice retro feel without ever falling into being a pastiche. Her portraits of women, carnival ladies and freakshows (half woman/half cow anyone?) are really alluring. The watercolour pieces were absolutely stunning - the level of detail and finish made it very hard to resist not getting the credit card out. Others had less restraint and a number of originals and prints were snapped up by fans.

 

Her tattoo designs are something else as well and clearly there were a lot of fans at show, some with similar style tats and others who were discussing which of her designs to get inked next. All in all a quality show of an interesting and different artist.