Trash polka is a style of tattoo very, very new, since it did not appear until the end of the nineties in Germany.
If you are curious about know this style, how it was formed and where does its name come from, keep reading!
The origin of this beautiful style
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As we said, this type of tattoo originated in Germany in the late nineties, more specifically in 1998. Its inventors were Volker Merschky and Simone Pfaff, who perfected it at the Buena Vista Tattoo Club studio in Würzburg and they gave it the name of realistic trash polka, although they later removed the word realistic of the definition because they did not want to condition that the designs always have realistic elements.
What characteristics does it have?
These types of tattoos have a series of characteristics that make them unmistakable. In the first place, they tend to always be in black and red and have realistic elements (hence the word realistic of the first denomination of this style). Second, trash refers to lettering and other artistic elements such as lines, stains… And polka? To understand the reason for this word in style, you have to understand what their tattooists were looking for.
A rhythmic tattoo
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And it is that Volker Merschky and Simone Pfaff were not just any couple, since they were not only tattooists, but also artists, photographers and graphic and interior designers. Perhaps it was because of this combination of trades and their research in the world of tattoos that made them go further and understand ink not only as a graphic representation on the body, but as an expression of opposites (past and future, technology and nature, realism and abstraction) that created a rhythm in the body. And hence the word trash in the name of this style.
Trash polka is undoubtedly a spectacular and unexpected style. Tell us, do you have any tattoos of this style? Did you know this story? Let us know in the comments!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trash_polka