• Why we laugh at Murcia and why we shouldn't laugh (so much)

He could never imagine a genius of surrealism like Salvador Dalí who would one day be the protagonist of the greatest realistic tattoo in the world. And he could not imagine its author, Joaquín Ganga (Murcia, 1990), who would finish this work after tattooing the bodies of celebrities such as Drake, Chris Brown or the footballer Otamendi.

Ganga began painting graffiti at age 15 and only one year later he already charged for his work: he earned his first euros decorating the facades of greengrocers and small businesses. Until one day he saw the Miami Ink program and decided that he wanted to devote himself to tattoo. With the money he had saved on those small jobs, he bought his first tattoo kit .

The biggest tattoo in the world | THE WORLD

For five years, he worked daily like any tattoo artist. He used his house as a study and his relatives and acquaintances as a learning base. But, after that time, everything changed and became a star of his trade. "It happened very fast," he says.

If something characterizes Joaquín Ganga is his nonconformity. Far from limiting himself to working with his good contacts, one day he decided that he wanted to do something very big, something unique. "I'm addicted to doing new things , " he says. «I wanted to innovate, make a painting and get a little out of the tattoo. But, although I really like to draw and as much as I do, I have to think what my followers want from me. That is, a picture is worth it, but what kind? And I thought: 'I'm going to make a painting but tattooed', ”he says.

I wanted to innovate, make a painting and get a little out of the tattoo. And I thought: I'm going to make a picture but tattooed

Joaquin Ganga

After an unusual order of a synthetic skin of 195x135 centimeters to a laboratory in Poland, there was Ganga, almost overcome by the challenge. «I started to tattoo it underneath, by the lip, and I said to myself: 'I don't follow'. It was very dirty. But, after three weeks of work, he achieved the goal of finishing Metamorphosis , his most ambitious and exclusive work to date.

The tatoo industry has found its golden age in the last decade. Footballers, singers or actors have been key to creating this fashion of ink. And now tattooists begin to recognize themselves as true artists. How do you get such a young tattoo artist rubbing shoulders with such famous celebrities? "It was a team work of my manager David Mejías and I," he explains. "He had a good product to teach and he knew how to show it."

Ganga greets his countrymen who pass by the cafeteria while continuing to count battalions with sports or music stars. "I remember we were partying in a hotel with Odell Beckham Jr [NFL player] and asked me to tattoo him right there," he says. «Most of my experiences with celebrities have been calmer but with OBJ we have done everything. I once tattooed him while we were on his private plane ».

And why does someone who already had very good clients decide to do a work like Metamorphosis ? "When my clients are no longer alive, neither can I see this painting," he presumes. «It is the evolution of the tattoo: you can see what is done at that time and what was done in these times».

That same vision was shared by the Crown Gallery in Los Angeles (USA), when they assessed their work for 150,000 euros, but did not accept. "The price is fine but in the end it is more sentimental value," he says. «I want to keep this one and make smaller ones because there is another gallery in London that does want paintings to sell them».

He now lives in Walnut Creek, a commune in the state of California, and is considered more entrepreneur than tattooist, although he doesn't like it. "I want to leave everything under control in a few months and devote myself to what I like, which is to tattoo," he says. He has just opened a new studio and a tattoo academy in his town, El Palmar (Murcia), because he does not want the flashes to prevent him from remembering where he started. With yours.

He reveals normally the name of some celebrities who have been interested in his work, such as NBA star Lebron James , DJ Marshmello or rapper The Game . He also does not forget his customs and asks for a chocolate milkshake in his lifelong bar, a few meters from the new studio, while wearing one of the many tattoos that cover his body. Specifically, a scribble on his right ankle. "When I finished tattooing Drake, I told him that I wanted him to tattoo me and he signed me," he recalls. «It was the first time he tattooed someone. He was cool, but I'm not going to ask him to do it again: he was sticking the needle in.

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