Image not available

Bernadette Thompson

"Money Manicure" artificial nails

Designed 1990s (reproduced 2017)

Acrylic nail tip, acrylic paint, imitation paper money, 3D acrylics, imitation pearl, rhinestone, plastic, and metal

Not on view

Acrylic nail extensions—one of the most notable twentieth-century developments in the nail industry—are an outlet for artistic expression and a powerful form of identity communication design. In the 1980s, manicurists turned to dental suppliers like Odontorium Products Inc.—known today as the nail company OPI—and adapted the acrylic used for dentures to create nail extensions. As the trend proliferated, a few celebrated nail artists rose to fame, New York–based Bernadette Thompson among them. In 1995, she created the “money manicure” for rapper Lil’ Kim in the video of The Notorious B.I.G.’s newly released single “Get Money” using strips of US paper currency.

Gallery label from

Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, January 26, 2025–November 15, 2025

Medium Acrylic nail tip, acrylic paint, imitation paper money, 3D acrylics, imitation pearl, rhinestone, plastic, and metal
Dimensions .a - left hand, pinky: 5 1/4 × 1/4 × 1/2" (13.3 × 0.6 × 1.3 cm) .b - left hand, ring : 7 × 3/8 × 1/2" (17.8 × 1 × 1.3 cm) .c - left hand, middle: 7 1/2 × 1/2 × 1/2" (19.1 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .d - left hand, index: 7 1/8 × 1/2 × 1/2" (18.1 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .e - left hand, thumb: 4 1/2 × 1/2 × 1/2" (11.4 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .f - right hand, thumb: 4 1/2 × 1/2 × 1/2" (11.4 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .g - right hand, index: 7 1/8 × 1/2 × 1/2" (18.1 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .h - right hand, middle: 7 1/2 × 1/2 × 1/2" (19.1 × 1.3 × 1.3 cm) .i - right hand, ring: 7 × 3/8 × 1/2" (17.8 × 1 × 1.3 cm) .j - right hand, pinky: 5 1/4 × 1/4 × 1/2" (13.3 × 0.6 × 1.3 cm) Mount, each: 6 3/8 × 6 1/2 × 1/2" (16.2 × 16.5 × 1.3 cm)
Credit Gift of the designer
Object number 95.2018.a-j
Department Architecture & Design

Explore more

All works from 1990–2000 →

From MoMA Design Store

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.