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MS. MUFFIT REDUX… SITTING
ON HER TUFFIT IN SOHO & NOLITA
Animazing Gallery to Launch The Art of Gris Grimly… McNally Robinson
Booksellers to Host First New York Book Signing |
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NEW YORK, NY – March 31,
2005 – Animazing Gallery announced today that they will host an
opening reception to the launch the art of Gris Grimly’s new book;
“Little Jordan Ray's Muddy Spud” at
their SoHo showroom on Friday, May 6th. McNally Robinson Booksellers
will debut the book itself on Saturday, May 7th with Gris signing
copies to make it an entire Grimly Weekend!
Mr. Grimly will greet fans of his award-winning illustrations
and fine art graphics which will debut during the cocktail reception
on Friday from 6-9 PM. Gris will also appear at Animazing on Saturday
from 2 – 4pm. Animazing Gallery is located at 461 Broome Street,
between Greene and Mercer Streets.
On Saturday, McNally Robinson Booksellers will host a cocktail
reception and book signing with Mr. Grimly on Saturday from 7
– 9pm. Their location is 50 Prince Street, between Lafayette and
Mulberry Streets.
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an exhibition of all of the original illustrations from
his new book, Animazing has the honor to launch a collection
of exclusive graphics and showcase a retrospective of drawings
and paintings by Mr. Grimly that were inspired by the book.
Many of these works will be available for purchase, and
be accompanied by a complimentary signed copy of “Little
Jordan Ray….”
Animazing Gallery owner Heidi Leigh says,
“What a thrill to host an event with this emerging young
illustration artist; he is in a creative world of his own;
a star who was born in the same galaxy as Tim Burton and
Maurice Sendak.”
Born in the Midwest, Mr. Grimly, like so many
creative children, was drawn to the exciting and scary world
of monsters and goblins. Young Gris observed and absorbed
the darker sides of creative geniuses like Dr. Seuss and
Jim Henson, the latter for whom he had hoped to work one
day, which explains why he cut up his mother’s sheets to
make his own puppets. Grimly understands instinctively,
the innocent attraction that the child in all of us has
for the sinister land of ghosts and ghouls and things that
go bump in the night.
After graduating from college, where he studied
art, Mr. Grimly brought his remarkable talent to Los Angeles
where he started working for Universal Studios. Contributing
to character designs for themed entertainment was not enough
for the young artist; like most creative geniuses, Gris
needed to have an outlet for his passion. During his spare
time he produced a series of original miniature books, which
are now extremely rare and valuable. After the release of
these works, his reputation began to take form. Harper Collins
and Hyperion Press, a division of the Walt Disney Company,
hired him to paint the covers for best selling works and
to illustrate original children’s books like Pinocchio,
Monster Museum and Creature Carnival.
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| His intricate lines and startling
layouts combined with an exceptional use of carefully
controlled water color and ink washes were instantly
hailed by his peers, themselves leaders in the field
of fantasy, horror illustration and fine art; many of
whom had inspired Mr. Grimly in his youth. Evidence
of his place in this unique segment of the art world
was marked early on when his work was selected to appear
in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art,
the leading arts journal showcasing the best and brightest
fantasy and science fiction artists around the world.
Mr. Grimly was in good company at a very young age,
sharing the pages with the likes of James Gurney of
Dinotopia fame, Peter de’Seve who is noted
for his covers for The New Yorker, and Caldecott
winners Leo and Diane Dillon. |
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Gris
Grimly has now returned to his roots illustrating
his own writing in books such as “Wicked
Nursery Rhymes” Best selling horror author
and film director Clive Barker referred to Grimly’s
work as “Stylish, funny, and gloriously ghoulish.”
McNally Robinson NYC is an independent bookstore
owned and operated by Sarah McNally. Sarah was
born to bookselling: her parents, Holly and
Paul McNally, own and operate McNally Robinson
Booksellers, Canada’s largest independent bookseller
and four-time winner of the Canadian Bookseller
of the Year Libris Award. But McNally Robinson
NYC operates independently of the Canadian company
and is in every way a local production. Sarah,
a former book editor at the Perseus Book Group,
where she worked with award-winning authors
like John Gardiner, Robert Harms, and Miriam
Toews, has lived all over the city since moving
here from Canada (her current digs are in Harlem).
The store opened in December of 2004 and is
staffed by a diverse and talented group of booksellers
who truly represent the city in all its variety.
Animazing Gallery, New York’s Premier Animation
Art and Illustration Gallery, is owned and operated
by Heidi Leigh and Nick Leone. Its showrooms
are located in New York in Soho and Hastings
on Hudson, in the French Quarter in New Orleans
and on line at www.animazing.com. Leigh is a
charter member of The Animation Art Guild, and
is on the board of advisors for MoCCA, New York’s
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Her husband,
Nick Leone, was the Gallery Director of the
Warner Bros. flagship Studio Store on Fifth
Avenue, and currently is the Gallery Director
of Animazing’s SOHO location. Animazing Gallery
features the finest collection of animation
art from all major studios including Disney,
Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, Nickelodeon
and Fox. For more information about Animazing
Gallery, please log onto http://www.animazing.com. |
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