Anil Gupta is a well-known Indian tattoo artist and graphic designer noted for his delicate style of inking iconic tiny portraits and postage-stamp-size tattoos of works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Van Gogh. He is regarded as one of the best inkers in the United States.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Anil Gupta was born in the Bombay Presidency of British India in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai, Maharashtra).
There isn’t much information about his parents or siblings.
Neelam Gupta is his wife’s name.
EDUCATION
Anil Gupta attended Dr. Antonio Da Silva High School in Dadar, Mumbai, and graduated from Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai, India, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts. He travelled to America in 1991 to obtain a bachelor’s degree. In 1991, he moved to America to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Computer graphics.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Weight (approx.): 90 kg
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
CAREER
When Anil was in college in the early 1980s, he worked as a tattoo designer for Dr Jahangir Kohiyar, a tattoo artist and psychiatrist. Anil learned the tattooing skill from him, earning INR 25/- as a weekend job. Anil stated during an interview regarding his early work, “In the 1980s when I started out, it was not lucrative, that’s for sure.” We were creatively constrained by what we felt was popular at the time. And the spectrum of what can be done has expanded in the last decade or so.” He began his tattooing career largely in Mumbai, India, then in 1991, he relocated to New York, USA, and opened the ‘Inkline Studio.’ Getting tattooed and needle skimming were both illegal at the time.
This was shortly after the Gulf War, and the United States was in a slump. Jobs were scarce, no one was hiring, and working as an artist was out of the question. That’s when I decided to start tattooing again.”
Anil is interested in spiritual, nature, and portrait tattoos. In addition to these shapes, he specialises in designing biomechanical tattoos. He has tattooed several celebrities and is well-known for his miniature renditions of artworks such as the “Mona Lisa” and Georges Seura’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”
