Ole Wittmann (born 31 August 1977) is a German art historian, curator and publisher. He is specialized in the role of tattooing in art. His research on the German tattoo history of the late 19th and 20th century is considered pioneering.[1][2] He has written the first German doctoral thesis on tattooing and art and his research has generated considerable media interest.[3]
Wittmann was born in Henstedt-Ulzburg. He studied art history at the University of Hamburg and has been a visiting lecturer there. He worked for the Arno Schmidt Stiftung from 2009 to 2012 and was involved in the conception of the exhibition 'Tattoo'[4] (2015) at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg.
His doctoral thesis Tattoos in der Kunst[5] is concerned with material specific aspects and the iconology of tattoos, he received his Ph.D. in 2017.[6][7]
Since December 2015, Wittmann is a postdoctoral scholarship holder of the Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur (Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture) working on a research project on the estate of the German tattooist Christian Warlich (1891–1964) in cooperation with the Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg/Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte.[8]
Wittmann is the founder and owner of the company Nachlass Warlich.[9] He is an executive board member and research director of the nonprofit organisation Institut für deutsche Tattoo-Geschichte e.V. (IDTG) since 2018. Wittmann is the curator of the exhibition "Tattoo-Legenden. Christian Warlich auf St. Pauli" (2019/20) at the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte.[10]
The book Karl Finke: Buch No. 3' was edited and published by Wittmann in 2019 and was awarded bronze by the Art Directors Club für Deutschland e.V. (ADC)[11] and won the German Design Award.[12][13][14]
Contributions in: Friedman, Anna Felicity: The World Atlas of Tattoo. Yale University Press, New Haven 2015, ISBN0-300-2104-85, Page 182; 185-186; 188.
Tattoo-Legenden. In: Hamburg History Live, Nr. 2, 2016, Page 16–21. (in German)
Scham entblößen. Damien Hirsts Tattoo-Arbeit butterfly, divided. In: Inga Klein/Nadine Mai/Rostislav Tumanov (Ed.): Hüllen und Enthüllungen. (Un-)Sichtbarkeiten aus kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive, Berlin: Reimer 2017 (=Schriftenreihe der Isa Lohmann-Siems Stiftung, Vol. 10), p. 104–126.
Werkalterung und Umrisslinie: Zur Unschärfe von Tattoos. In: Iris Därmann/Thomas Macho (Ed.): Unter die Haut. Tätowierungen als Logo- und Piktogramme, Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink 2017, p. 179–208.
Heim, Heide: Der Heilige Gral, TätowierMagazin, Nr. 248, Jg. 22, Oktober 2016, Page 74-83. (in German)
Coenen, Andreas: „Warlich – Finke – Wittmann. Auf den Wegen der Hamburger Tattoo-Tradition" [Interview mit Ole Wittmann], in: Tattoo Kulture Magazine 21, Issue 4, July/August 2017, p. 30–38.
^Karl Finke: Buch No. 3. Ein Vorlagealbum des Hamburger Tätowierers, Projekt-ID: GDA2019-31344. Team German Design Award 2019, Rat für Formgebung Service GmbH
^Art Directors Club für Deutschland e.V. (Ed.).: ADC Jahrbuch 2018, Berlin 2018, p. 330.
^Andrej Kupetz, Lutz Dietzold, Rat für Formgebung/German Design Council: German Design Award 2019. Excellent Communications Design, Volume 2, Frankfurt am Main 2019, p. 177.