INprint:

It's time to freshen up the coffee tables & add a few new selections from the myriad of new titles recently released or soon to be so. Here are a few of our favorites we wanted to share with you:

Flowers for the Home
by Grayson Handy & Tracey Zabar
Rizzoli
192pp, $40.00 U.S.

I first met Grayson Handy through a mutual friend in 2000 when I was told he & his partner Arturo are "the best florists in New York." I visited their shop on Prudence Designs on West 18th Street in Chelsea & was led down a set of stairs & back a short hallway to a dark basement level space that did little to prepare me for what lay beyond the understated door with the simple words "Prudence Designs" on it. The door opened & I was transported to a another world. One where nature's wonders are actually enhanced. Where every sense is piqued & where the words to describe the visuals are not yet invented. At the helm of this artistic expression were two of the most unassuming, warm, inclusive, genuine creative geniuses (I know... these are not attributes normally associated with genius) I've ever had the priviledge of knowing. Floral maestros Grayson & Arturo. I was addicted.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that Grayson was penning a title to bring his magic to the reading public. In Flowers for the Home, he & co-author Tracey Zabar not only bring 192 page of full color visuals to you, but add thoughtful prose in just the right places to attempt to explain the methods of his creative expressions. It's not as much a how to as an attempt to demonstrate his creative process & in return hopefully inspire the reader's own latent creativity. Grayson's Southern charm & biting witt are evident throughout in the facts he chooses to reveal. One of my favorite passages was on page 37, where he muses about the British & their whimsical knack of naming colors:

"The British take their colors seriously, bestowing them with wonderfully humorous names. Reds are called scarlet, horseflesh, and maide’s blush. Yellows are tawney, canary, and primrose. There are plunket, celestial, and Wedgwood blues. Greens come in popinjay, willow, even gooseturd. And neutrals aren’t ignored, given names such as motley, chimneysweep, and the amusing puke."

It's a fun, light & informative read or just a fanciful visual treat should you just be in the mood to browse & escape into the world of "Prudence" without trekking to Chelsea.

Grayson does unbelievable events, right down to the catering, has a collection of home accessories available exclusively at Prudence that include pillows, candles & even has a collection of avante garde bridal gowns for the bride seeking the full Prudence experience on her special day. Stop into the store for a visit as soon as you can. The only thing you will be sorry for is that you didn't discover this treasure years earlier.

Prudence Designs
West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
212.691.1356
www.prudencedesigns.net

 

In Their Youth
by Greg Gorman
Damiani
$50.00 U.S.

"I decided to do a project that expressed my infatuation with male beauty," states photographer Greg Gorman, "especially in terms of youth... the portraits don't have lots of backgrounds, they're straightforward. It's really about the person, not the elements."

In this artistically curated presentation of what amounts to a focused retrospective of sorts, Gorman deftly achieves exactly this. "In Their Youth" is remarkable in its depth of subject - it literally seems like Mr. Gorman has shot all of young Hollywood in his formidable career, as nary a bold faced name is left out - & the artistic direction of the book itself has a definitive feel of an art gallery with it's imagery presented in all black & white with each image "mounted" (if you will) on alternating black & white backgrounds & usually set off opposite a blank page of negative space for emphasis & visual relief. The net result is more akin to walking through a large gallery show than paging through a book.

The tone of the book is voyeuristic for sure, but never in a tabloid way. You get the feeling of what is it like to know each of the subjects rather than glaring at these recognizable faces in the white lighted glare of the step & repeats that are commonplace in the lives of today's celebrities. This conveyed familiarity is due entirely to the talent of Mr. Gorman himself. The resultant tone is not one merely of homoeroticism as many anthologies of this nature lapse into, though there is certainly a dash of that as expected, but rather one of an artistic study that both sexes & all persuasions will find engaging.

www.artbook.com

 
Pierre Cardin:
60 Years of Innovation

Though not yet released, we caught wind of this title & had to mention it as one to anxiously anticipate. Pierre Cardin has had a career that, in my opinion, has been overshadowed by his overexposure by voracious licensing deals that created the impression that he was an icon of the Canal Street set, or a fashion label to be found at a Duane Reade or K-Mart near you. In fact he is one of the most influential designers to emerge in the 1960's & many would argue is one of the founding fathers of 60's futurism which counts the likes of Courreges & Paco Rabbanne as fellow devotees. We're looking forward to this title with great anticipation. Perhaps Mr. Cardin will be given the literary retrospective that is so long overdue.

 

-Scott French