Male Art

Last night a brigade of cabs dropped off a group of East Village dwelling Canadians at an abandoned building on Leroy street in the West Village. Inside was an impromptu art show, on view until the building is demolished. There were twisted foam creations (think Super Mario landscapes on acid), photographs, a wooden puzzle table and smoldering paintings burning a slow stream of smoke, set to a sound track played by a host of indie bands happily rocking the crowd. The lighting was dim, the floors dusty and wires and beams stuck out in all directions. In the midst of the chaos, two friendly artists, Kora and Nicole, took their creativity off the page, and onto nails. Completely untrained in the aesthetics field, they purchased an assortment of silver, white, dark toned and fluorescent colored polishes--a few with a tiny brush for intricate detailing. To them, it was an exercise (and experiment) on a live canvas.

The girls were the toast of the party--with women and men alike pushing each other out of the way to be next in line. Of course, the men needed a little more instruction on letting the polish dry for more then a couple of minutes. One unlucky guy hadn't listened carefully and went rushing off into the crowd, only to come back seconds later for a touch up on his silver lightening bolts.

Below are pictures of some of their fun and creative designs.

With Halloween weeks behind us, it would seem that the enthusiasm from the men is not something to be overlooked. I think it is safe to say that the notion of men venturing into polished tips is on the horizon. With well manicured and glass-finish buff jobs now common place for the urban male (at least in New York City), the leap to neutral varnish jobs only seems like a natural progression...