Archive Note
Duncan X is an English tattooer widely described as one of the leading figures of British blackwork, known for a stark style built from bold old-school motifs rendered with the weight and texture of woodcut or early black-and-white tattoo photography. Born and raised in London in 1965, he came to tattooing through the punk scene and through music: in 1988 he co-founded the techno and industrial band Sheep on Drugs, performing as King Duncan, and he adopted the name Duncan X in 1993. He entered the trade through Into You, the Clerkenwell studio founded by Alex Binnie, reportedly first working the desk, and apprenticed in Soho under the veteran tattooer Dennis Cockell, tattooing professionally from 1999. He made his name at Into You across the 2000s and later became one of the most prominent artists at Old Habits Tattoo on Kingsland Road in east London. He works almost entirely in black, favoring stark contrast and a hand-rendered, unpolished surface, and also maintains a fine-art and printmaking practice.
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