New Book Shows Fascinating Pictures Of Nail Culture And Design

Whether dainty, rounded and pink or sharp, feline and bold, nails have long served as a canvas upon which a person can display their artistic sensibilities.

The art of sprucing up our fingertips began in China in 3000 B.C. Later, women of the Chinese Ming Dyntasy donned artificial nails to separate themselves from manual laborers, and 18th century Greek ladies wore pistachio shells on their hands. Since then, we've seen plastic white tips, rhinestone flowers and punny polish names to cover the entire spectrum of color ("Ladies and Magentamen," "San Tan-tonio").

Putting a new twist on the old art: renowned multi-medium artist, Dzine. Known for his fusion of "beauty, desire and folklore," he embarked on a nail decor project, chronicled in "Nailed: The History of Nail Culture and Dzine" [Standard Press and Damiani Editore, $45.00]. The resulting claw adornments are a punk-chic blend of antiquated trinkets and bold bling.

Here are some of the most fantastic, ferocious images:

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Comments

[snoozyqz]

02:13 PM on 01/02/2012

I saw a couple that could be considered dangerous weapons!

[irishut36]

01:13 PM on 01/02/2012

Some of that is SERIOUSLY ridiculous.

[jfrane]

12:23 PM on 01/02/2012

Does anyone that posts on here ever use their brains? These nails are not the "latest trend" for people to walk out of the salon with. THEY ARE ART for crying out loud. Grow a clue, people!

[Lori Ladybug]

01:18 PM on 01/02/2012

Exactly! The same thing with hair and fashion shows. The exaggerated styles are for show, not everyday wear. Unless you're Lady Gaga.

[simzillyjp]

03:30 PM on 01/02/2012

No, too many people LOSE those brains when commenting.

[lthrnck68]

11:26 AM on 01/02/2012

I buy and resell nail polish at flea markets. With a multitude of colors and real art work available, the selection of images shown is rather disappointing. Seems like just another attempt by fashion "gurus" to get the real public to buy into an overexaggerated style.

[xxgreyeyes]

10:35 AM on 01/02/2012

Tacky and ugly.

[kuddlelicious]

10:11 AM on 01/02/2012

way more time and money than brains...

[stwbrypinacolada]

09:59 AM on 01/02/2012

This reminds me of a fashion show... who would really were this? Some stuff is cool to look at, but, really?

[stwbrypinacolada]

10:00 AM on 01/02/2012

*wear

[btboone8]

09:44 AM on 01/02/2012

This is just ignorant!

[Patriot28]

08:25 AM on 01/02/2012

Not fascinating, gross. How would you get though evertdat tasks with those. Hope they don't get an itch somewhere.

[ROLLANDO]

08:17 AM on 01/02/2012

It is ridiculous/! I can understand girls doing it for the attention. However on women it looks pathetic and childish as well as a distraction. Unless the lady has something disfiguring or something wrong with her nails I do not see women really needing to use it. Just keep your manicure & pedicure clean and trimmed. And let your personality shine through. Unless they have low self esteem that they feel the need to do the nail art. I do not see anything attractive about nail art.

[lofttypeofaview]

08:10 AM on 01/02/2012

It must hurt the finger and the purse to break some of those nails.

[sextonfan]

09:20 PM on 12/29/2011

Gross.

[Jeanette Marina Beasley]

07:42 PM on 12/29/2011

And just like fashion it's a passion for the with it and hip
If you got the goods they'll come and buy it just to stay in the clique~Smash Mouth

[NormdePlume]

01:26 PM on 12/29/2011

And here I didn't think there was anything worse than french tips.

[Cinquopated]

12:31 PM on 12/29/2011

I dig matching your nails to your sneakers, ditto to the cat eye nails (yellow with the black stripe). But, yeah, I have to do too many things with my hands (like tie my shoes, zip my fly, etc.) to do even the most modest nail job. Always been jealous, though of girls who can rock it!