Not Your Average
Words by Ella V Reid
Image by Simon Strong
A new commercial Gallery taking the barriers of art to a whole new level. Compendium Gallery is situated above The Melbourne Compendium tattoo studio in the heart of Armadale.
Not your average gallery owners, Kris Sunkee and Sam Nugent (Insamnia) are two iconic Melbourne tattoo artists who refuse to let their creative expression be confined to the skin of their clients. Sunkee and Nugent, after buying the space above their tattoo studio, turned the space into a commercial gallery space to showcase the prominent Contemporary artists that Australia has to offer. Though this is not limited to those who only identify as fine artists. Sunkee and Nugent also exhibit works by prominent tattoo artists as well. It is often believed that many, if not all tattoo artists work exist on either the screens on their ipad and then transferred in the deep layers of their clients skin. The Compendium boys have created a space that breaks apart that stereotype and exhibits beautiful art objects created by some of the most notable tattoo artists both in Australia and Internationally.
This is also not limited to themselves. Both Sunkee and Nugent are prolific painters, who paint stunning canvases, both inspired by their tattoo styles but also by some key figures in the art world such as Caravagio and Dalí. Though still tattooing in their own personal styles, their artistic explorations they exhibit on canvases are not bound by a client's wishes or constraints, which allows them the creative freedom given to any other Contemporary artists working in today's art climate.
With the help of Elle Zoltak, someone who has made her mark in the Australian art scene, working as an ambassador for multiple art fairs and having years of commercial gallery experience, Zoltak manages the gallery’s day to day as well as curating the shows.
The gallery has been involved in breaking barriers between art and tattooing, having recently been involved in the Rites of Passage tattoo expo. Both the gallery and tattoo studio had their own booth, with the gallery exhibiting works by artists who had held previous shows at the Compendium gallery such as Ben Howe, Christopher Tóth and Terry Taylor. The display also included works by tattoo artists Benjamin Laukis, Natalie Nox and the Compendium boys.
The Compendium boys, like any other tattoo studio, have guest artists and apprentices who are also invited to allow their creative energy to run free. Hosting a monthly ‘Paint Night’, tattoo artists, apprentices and gallery assistants are invited to sit down in front of an easel and either paint a live model or a piece they have been working on. This alongside with their tutelage and any advice the boys can offer to enhance the skills of the next generation of tattoo artists.
Together Sunkee and Nugent have created a space unlike any other. What they have built is an environment that has broken the ideology that the fine art world and the tattoo world are not synonyms with each other.
