Introduction by Kim Hastreiter. Text by Luis Gispert, Yone, Jamel Shabazz, Fred Brathwaite a.k.a. Fab 5 Freddy.
Dzine's fusion of commerce, kustom kulture craft and high art have made him an international sensation in locations as various as the Venice Biennale-where he famously customized an 18-foot boat into a blinged-out multimedia installation-and Chicago, where he first made a name for himself as a teenage graffiti artist. In September 2011, Dzine launched two kustom nail art salons in New York: one in the lobby window of the New Museum, at which various local nail artists offered free nail designs to visitors; and the other at Salon 94 Freemans gallery, where a kustom chandelier, four jewel-encrusted paintings, a gold-leaf hutch and flamboyant, wearable nail sculptures were exhibited alongside a nail salon with a part-time manicurist. Produced in the Get Nailed at the New Museum and Imperial Nail Salon-these events were huge hits, coinciding as they did with kustom nail art's massive international popularity, and led to the publication of this luxurious volume, which celebrates and contextualizes the kustom nail movement. Nailed looks at the history of nail design and adornment across cultures, documenting contemporary nail art with specially commissioned photography of the phenomenon from across the globe. With an introduction by Paper cofounder Kim Hastreiter and contributions by Luis Gispert, Yone, Jamel Shabazz and Fab 5 Freddy, Nailed includes overviews of Dzine's Get Nailed at the New Museum and Imperial Nail Salon projects. Chicago-based artist Carlos Rolon (born 1970), aka Dzine, is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation award for Painting and Sculpture. His work has been included in exhibitions and is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; the Museo del Barrio, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the Bass Museum of Art, Miami.
Featured photograph, by Gabriella Davi-Khorasanee, is reproduced from Dzine: Nailed.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times
Ruth La Ferla
Nail art, an extension of the Kustom subculture that is central to Dzine’s work, is celebrated in “Nailed” (Standard Press and Damiani Editore), a coffee-table volume conceived by the artist with Claire Darrow, the Standard’s creative director. Magazine editors have been just as infatuated with Dzine’s nail designs, imploring him to recreate them for their fashion pages.
V Magazine
Sarah Christobal
Published by Standard Press, the glossy tome examines the history of nail art from its nascent stages during the Ming Dynasty to present day customization. With an introduction by Paper's Kim Hastreiter and contributions by Luis Gispert, Mickalene Thomas, and the legendary Fab 5 Freddy, Nailed is as much an anthropological study as it is a fashionalble endeavor. The around-the-world exploration provides a handy glimse into nails that are razor sharp, crystal-encrusted, and decaled with milkshakes, wizards, or the interlocking Chanel logo.
CNN.com
Emanuella Grinberg
The concept of the salon as a community is the focus of a new book by Chicago-based artist Dzine, who visited salons in the United States, Asia and Europe to capture the creative spirit of nail art, far from the glitz of the fashion and entertainment worlds. "Nailed" traces the history of nail art to China's Ming Dynasty, where members of the upper class kept long nails as status symbols that implied they were not supposed to touch anything. The book was an offshoot of a gallery exhibit in which he recreated the "Bootleg Beauty Salon" that his mother ran in her living room during his childhood. The exhibit, which received widespread praise in New York's Salon 94 and Miami's 2011 Art Basel, featured real nail techs who performed manicures on visitors to the exhibit.
"As a child of first generation Puerto Rican immigrants in the United States, well paying jobs were scarce. So in order to supplement extra income, my mother created a bootleg salon in our home. I clearly remember the horrible smell of the chemicals but enjoyed hearing the women gossip about current events or personal issues while getting a makeover. I loved having people over the house and the sense of community it created. I wanted to re-create this feeling and tell a story that was honest while still keeping true to my language and body of work. In a sense, my exhibition and project, “Imperial Nail Salon” (named after a custom high-end clothing boutique owned by Mr. Dapper Dan, an 80’s fashion designer based in Harlem on 125th street. Dapper Dan created one of a kind, customized clothing that incorporated highly recognizable accessory logos like those of Gucci and Louis Vuitton, featuring them in non-traditional ways), is a homage to my mother. As with my investigation and studio practice of Kustom Kulture. I found the same passion within this community of people and those creating these special objects. The more involved I became, the more I learned this really is an art form. The people involved in this community have no formal art training, yet their passion to make beautiful, over‑the‑top ornamental objects is what truly struck me, hence the body of work. It has reminded me why I’m an artist and why I choose to create. In the end this culture allowed me to present a visual dialog using materials in a very unorthodox manner that wouldn’t normally be presented in a institution and question how culture and commodity plays into human, social and objectified relationships. Most importantly and historically, the development of Nail Art Culture is about the community that has been built within the confines of a salon, the friendships that develop and the stories that are shared."
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.75 x 11.5 in. / 216 pgs / 290 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 ISBN: 9788862082051 PUBLISHER: Damiani/Standard Press AVAILABLE: 2/29/2012 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Damiani/Standard Press. Introduction by Kim Hastreiter. Text by Luis Gispert, Yone, Jamel Shabazz, Fred Brathwaite a.k.a. Fab 5 Freddy.
Dzine's fusion of commerce, kustom kulture craft and high art have made him an international sensation in locations as various as the Venice Biennale-where he famously customized an 18-foot boat into a blinged-out multimedia installation-and Chicago, where he first made a name for himself as a teenage graffiti artist. In September 2011, Dzine launched two kustom nail art salons in New York: one in the lobby window of the New Museum, at which various local nail artists offered free nail designs to visitors; and the other at Salon 94 Freemans gallery, where a kustom chandelier, four jewel-encrusted paintings, a gold-leaf hutch and flamboyant, wearable nail sculptures were exhibited alongside a nail salon with a part-time manicurist. Produced in the Get Nailed at the New Museum and Imperial Nail Salon-these events were huge hits, coinciding as they did with kustom nail art's massive international popularity, and led to the publication of this luxurious volume, which celebrates and contextualizes the kustom nail movement. Nailed looks at the history of nail design and adornment across cultures, documenting contemporary nail art with specially commissioned photography of the phenomenon from across the globe. With an introduction by Paper cofounder Kim Hastreiter and contributions by Luis Gispert, Yone, Jamel Shabazz and Fab 5 Freddy, Nailed includes overviews of Dzine's Get Nailed at the New Museum and Imperial Nail Salon projects.
Chicago-based artist Carlos Rolon (born 1970), aka Dzine, is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation award for Painting and Sculpture. His work has been included in exhibitions and is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; the Museo del Barrio, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the Bass Museum of Art, Miami.
