As a HUGE thanks to all of you avid readers, Handbook is now $8 bucks a book! (includes shipping and handling.)  Since we have lowered the price of each issue we are also lowering our subscription rates. If you are already a Handbook  subscriber who paid the original rate, this means that you will receive two extra issues after your subscription expires to make up the difference.  Our hats (and pants) are off to all of you! SPREAD THE HANDBOOK WORD!

As May comes to a close and the July issue is in the works I would like to thank all of you Handbook fans out there for all the support and kind words. The oh so sexy next issue will be available mid July and it’s packed full of hot nude guys and titillating text. So hang in there and stay tuned for more updates!

Jon King Career: 1981 – 1989

If you are a fan of a man who can power bottom with the best and biggest, Jon King is the guy for you. His tight, athletic, boyishly muscular body, combined with dark eyes, and vulnerability made him a star . Jon King’s start in adult films came with the 1981 film Brothers Should Do It, where he was billed as Jon King, the younger brother of J. W. King (another sexy dark haired porn icon.) As it seemed to be with most young pron actors, he had a few run ins with the law. In 1982 he stole a car on a test drive, robbed a Burger King in Gainesville FL then wrecked the car which led to eleven months in prison. After his release he was back to what he, at the time, he loved the most, being in front of the camera. One of his most memorable scenes was in a hot tub with veteran adult star Kip Noll in 1984’s Kip Noll – Superstar. The chemistry and intense sexuality between these two men was a directors dream come true and was the highlight of this title. Before retiring in 1989, he performed with most of the hottest male stars of the 80’s and 90’s, making him one of busiest men in the business.

Fimography: (some of his best work)

The Best Of Jon King (Catalina Video)
Below the Belt (Bijou Video)
The Biggest One I Ever Saw (Sierra Pacific)
Biker’s Liberty: Big Summer Surprise (Falcon Studios)
Brothers Should Do It (Catalina Video)
Fade In (HIS Video)
Fade Out (HIS Video)
Giants 2 (LeSalon)
Kip Noll Superstar 1 (Catalina Video)
Members Only (Laguna Pacific)
Printer’s Devils (Laguna Pacific)
Screenplay (Bijou Video)
These Bases are Loaded (Catalina Video)
These Bases are Loaded 2 (Catalina Video)
William Higgins Preview Tape #1

Handbooks pick: Kip Noll – Superstar

Lee Ryder Career:1982-1986

Lee Ryder starred in just thirteen gay films from 1982 to 1986, but photographs of his image appeared in dozens of gay porn magazines. His text book 10 inch cock, piercing eyes, bad-boy good looks and lean frame made him an overnight sensation. He was one of the first porn stars whos career transitioned from 8mm film to VHS in the early 80’s. Ryder’s first performance as a gay porn actor was in the film All American Boys, but it was not released until after his first film for Falcon Studios, Huge, which  released in 1982. Huge was just the beginning for Ryder and his place as one of the most recognizable gay film superstars was inevitable.

Filmography:
Biker’s Liberty (Falcon, 1982)
Huge (Falcon, 1982)
Huge 2 (Falcon, 1983)
All American Boys (MT Productions, 1983)
Spokes (Falcon, 1983)
Winner Takes All – High Voltage, scene one (Falcon, 1983)
Screenplay (Trophy, 1984)
The Biggest One I Ever Saw (Giant Films, 1984)
A Few Good Men (Surge Studios/Bijou Video, 1984)
Giants I (Le Salon, 1984)
Two by Ten (Marksman, 1985)
Hard (HIS Video, 1986)
Sticky Business (Catalina, 1986)

Handbooks pick:  Winner Takes All

Old Reliable
The work of David Hurles
1968 – 1980 (estimated body of work)

David Hurles was a true pioneer of male erotica and turned blue collar, hard working real men into visions of masturbatory delight. He brought to our attention a subject matter that was truly masculine and raw, trashy and sexy and unlike anything at that time. Old Reliables images and videos were the real deal and far from the tanned and posed muscle gods of studios such as AMG, Falcon or Colt. There is a man here for every taste and fantasy. Hairy or smooth, tattooed, long hair, short hair or bald. He captured images of porn stars on the fringe  and sometimes your boy next door. Thugs, ex-cons and street trash, hung guys to average guys. And with  such a variety of subjects the one thing that remained the common denominator was always raw masculine sexuality. These guys would oil wrestle with each other, work on cars wearing only a tool belt then jack off using engine oil. Some of them would strip naked, preform jumping jacks and push-ups then pump out a load. Cigars and cigarettes were sexual accessories as well was the middle finger flipping off Hurles camera. Old Reliable has fantastic videos of each guy, with live sound, as they discuss their lives, strip, oil up, get it up, pose, show off and shoot a load. There are tapes devoted to just one model captured over a number of days or weeks. Some, like Kermit or Mike “The Spike”, have worked with Old Reliable over a number of years and get hotter and hotter with each new tape. Some models have in addition done audio tapes as they get into some very intense dirty talking and discussion of sex scenes they’ve experienced. The most amazing thing about Old Reliable and David Hurles work is how powerful these seemingly amateur snapshots are and how the true word “macho” translated perfectly through his lens. A boner for sure!

Okay, I know this is a while away but it’s never too late to give a heads up. If you are a fan of international art publications, zines, photo-art books then this is the place for you. It’s a place to mingle and meet some talented, friendly people. One of those being of course, Handbook!

It’s the fifth annual NY Art Book Fair, November 5-7, 2010, at MoMA P.S.1, Long Island City, Queens. Admission to the fair is FREE.

The Fair previews on the evening of Thursday, November 4, as a benefit for Printed Matter and MoMA P.S.1.

The Fair hosts over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, and independent artist/publishers presenting a diverse range of the best in contemporary art publications.

Philip Aarons, Chairman of the Board at Printed Matter, said: “Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair re-establishes New York City as the heart of art publishing. This extraordinarily democratic and far-reaching project brings together ground-breaking and unique exhibitors, speakers, and events from twenty-one countries.”

Printed Matter presents The Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference, cosponsored with the Art Libraries Society of New York (ARLIS/NY); and The Classroom, a full-schedule of informal artist talks, performances, and screenings.

LOCATION
MoMA P.S.1
22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101 (map)

FAIR HOURS
Friday/Saturday, November 5-6, 2010, 11am – 7pm
Sunday, November 7, 2010, 11am – 5pm

The NY Art Book Fair is FREE and open to the public.http://www.nyartbookfair.com/

About Printed Matter:

Printed Matter is the world”s largest non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of publications made by artists. Founded as a for-profit alternative arts space in 1976 by artists and artworkers, Printed Matter reincorporated in 1978 to become the independent non-profit organization that it is today. Originally situated in Tribeca, Printed Matter moved to SoHo in 1989 where for twelve years the book displays and artists’ projects in the large storefront windows contributed to the artistic and intellectual vibrancy of the neighborhood. In 2001 Printed Matter relocated to Chelsea, where it continued to foreground the book as an alternative venue – or artistic medium – for artists’ projects and ideas. Finally, in December of 2005 Printed Matter moved into our current storefront location in Chelsea with big windows and greatly increased display and exhibition space. Recognized for years as an essential voice in the increasingly diversified art world conversations and debates, Printed Matter is dedicated to the examination and interrogation of the changing role of artists’ publications in the landscape of contemporary art. Printed Matter”s mission is to foster the appreciation, dissemination, and understanding of artists’ publications, which we define as books or other editioned publications conceived by artists as art works, or, more succinctly, as “artwork for the page.” Printed Matter specializes in publications produced in large, inexpensive editions and therefore does not deal in “book arts” or “book objects” which are often produced in smaller, more expensive editions due to the craft and labor involved in their fabrication. To promote public awareness of and access to artists’ books, Printed Matter maintains a public reading room where over 15,000 titles by 5,000 international artists are available for viewing and purchase. In addition to being a wholesale and retail distribution hub for artists’ books, Printed Matter offers a free consulting service to libraries, art institutions, and art professionals involved with artists’ books throughout the world. Printed Matter presents a range of educational programs for the public from talks to student groups by staff members to in-store lectures and readings by artists, critics, and curators. These educational initiatives are complemented by our internationally recognized exhibitions program and publishing program.

Since its founding, Printed Matter Inc. has helped to define the category of “artists’ books”, and we are committed to keeping the field – and all of its categories and definitions – vital and evolving. Printed Matter provides a context for the focused study of artists’ books and a center from which artists can distribute their work throughout the world. In many cases, Printed Matter is the only outlet for artists whose work is not commercially viable, and oftentimes the first outlet for emerging artists who are just beginning to explore the medium. Printed Matter has always sought to provide a forum for critical engagement with the issues and discussions unique to the field of artists’ books and to forge a connection between this field and other contemporary art practices as well as with the social and political world that contains and affects all art production. Printed Matter”s programming supports the mission of the organization by deepening and broadening the public’s understanding of artists” publications and by offering individual artists, or groups of artists, greater public exposure

Thanks AA Bronson!