Recent products and publications of Pratt Institute alumni and faculty include inventive lighting, colorful accessories, and a new monograph exploring the work of a legendary Pratt sculpture professor.
Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter)
Chris Bernabeo, BFA Film ’13
With culinary imagery shot in unexpected detail, Alison Roman’s latest New York Times bestselling cookbook, Sweet Enough, comes to life through the lens of photographer Chris Bernabeo. In his first foray into the food world after a decade of shooting portrait and fashion photography, Bernabeo’s colorful images illustrate Roman’s “casual, effortless, chic” recipes in this guide to dessert making across skill levels and time constraints, geared toward cooks without specialty ingredients and equipment. Available at penguinrandomhouse.com.
Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums: Stories and Memorable Moments from People Who Love Museums (Chronicle Books)
Bob Eckstein, BFA Communications Design ’85
This new release from New Yorker cartoonist and New York Times bestseller Bob Eckstein puts a playful twist on the more traditional art history book, showing a different side of museums from MoMA and the Guggenheim to the Museum of Bad Art and the Museum of Jurassic Technology. More than 155 original pieces of artwork couple with stories and anecdotes from curators, museum workers, and visitors in this “love letter to museums and museum-goers.” Available at chroniclebooks.com.
Again Vinyl LP by Oneohtrix Point Never (Warp Records)
Daniel Lopatin, MSLIS ’10
Again is the 10th album from Oneohtrix Point Never, the project of Mercury Prize-nominated producer and performer Daniel Lopatin. A recent New Yorker profile covering the artist’s unconventional career praised the record for its sonic versatility, building “a space—uncanny, warped, almost purgatorial—in which various eras and ideas, both dead and alive, can speak to one another.” This 13-track release comes in a special-edition blue vinyl as well as CD and digital formats. Available at warp.net.
John Pai: Liquid Steel by John Yau with contributions from Darren Aronofsky
John Pai, BID ’62; MFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’64, Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts
Principal photography by Photography alumnus Geoffrey Quelle
The first comprehensive monograph on Korean-American sculptor and influential Pratt professor John Pai surveys the artist’s full career creating intricate, three-dimensional abstract “drawings in space.” Featuring rarely seen early pieces up to present-day work, the book also reveals Pai’s process, from choosing materials to welding and bending metals into massive sculptural forms—all of which he continues to do himself. Pai began teaching fine arts at Pratt in 1965 as the youngest-ever professor appointed by the school, and retired from teaching in 2000 to focus on his artistic practice full-time. Available at rizzoliusa.com.
Read more and look inside Pai’s book.
Collide Collection by Kuzco Lighting
Ryan Pauly, BID ’02, and Cody Stonerock
With their award-winning Collide Collection, Kuzco Lighting brings together modern sculptural elements and organic forms, mimicking ocean waves. The fixtures pair curved LED strips with frosted silicone diffusers and dark, powder-coated black aluminum to create rings of light. Collide won Best Lighting of the Year 2023 in the Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting 2023 awards organized by Global Design News and the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. Learn more at kuzcolighting.com.
Fairy Bag by Samantha Pleet
Samantha Pleet, BFA Fashion Design ’06
Known for colorful patterns, ethereal imagery, and 3D embellishments, Samantha Pleet’s self-titled line started in 2007 with a focus on exploring “magical clothes that are one with nature—that can also take you back to the city.” All of Pleet’s pieces are sustainably made from natural, organic, and available stock fabrics. This fair-trade-made, embroidered canvas Fairy Bag can be styled multiple ways, either worn cross-body or as a shoulder bag when knotted. Available at samanthapleet.com.
Festa Credenza by Todd Merrill Studio and Ranalli Architects
George Ranalli, BArch ’72
A recent partnership with Todd Merrill Studio marks the first time that original furniture designs by George Ranalli, an architect and designer for over 40 years, are available to the public. One of five limited-edition, hand-crafted furniture pieces available from the studio, Ranalli’s Festa Credenza, shown here in blue with brass accents, is a “contemporary reboot of the traditional sideboard,” with architectural details and artful styling made to resemble a bird in flight. Learn more at toddmerrillstudio.com.
Muse Pendant by Ruveil
Gabrielle Nicole Saunders, BFA Fine Arts (Jewelry) ’13
The newest collection from Gabrielle Nicole Saunders’s brand Ruveil draws inspiration from the power of adornment and jewelry as a form of storytelling. The Trance Series features the Muse Pendant, with a deep blue, trillion cut tanzanite, a gemstone said to have healing properties of detoxification and soothing of the mind. Ruveil’s handmade pieces use materials and gemstones sourced as sustainably as possible. Available at ruveil.com.
Sweet Enough: A Dessert Cookbook by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter)
Chris Bernabeo, BFA Film ’13
With culinary imagery shot in unexpected detail, Alison Roman’s latest New York Times bestselling cookbook, Sweet Enough, comes to life through the lens of photographer Chris Bernabeo. In his first foray into the food world after a decade of shooting portrait and fashion photography, Bernabeo’s colorful images illustrate Roman’s “casual, effortless, chic” recipes in this guide to dessert making across skill levels and time constraints, geared toward cooks without specialty ingredients and equipment. Available at penguinrandomhouse.com.