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Photos: Inside The Dazzling World Of West Side Nail Art In 'Paint & Polish'

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 17, 2017 4:50PM

"Nail art, for those that are bold enough to wear it, is definitely custom personality on your fingers... it means people are expressing themselves."

So said Glynnus Alexander at Thursday night's book release at Reunion Chicago, in Humboldt Park, for "Paint & Polish: Cultural Economy and Visual Culture from the West Side," photographer Helen Maurene Cooper's collaborative exploration of Chicago's vibrant, self-sustaining nail art scene. Owner of Polished Nail Academy in Logan Square and one of the most celebrated nail stylists in Chicago, Alexander was also one of three nail artists who joined Cooper at the release.

"It's about self-expression," echoed Jackee Blue, justifiably described throughout the evening by admirers as a legend. Blue opened the Bottom Nail Salon in Austin in 1996, becoming one of the first African-American women to own a nail salon in Chicago.

Clearly, there's as much subtext underneath the nail art as there is bold imagination on the surface: the labor of women of color, feminism, the intimate relationship with clients, self-sustainability—all happening at a time when the couture world is simultaneously taking notice and jumping in, as well. It's all on display in both the nail art itself and Cooper's photographs in the book—part oral history, part collaboration.

"It's about the craftsmanship, the craftswomanship, the quality of the line, the intentionality of the selection of colors," Cooper said "But it's the incredible intelligence and intuition behind pulling all of those things together."

"Paint & Polish" is available now through Onomatopee books.