We are huge fans of Kwesi Abbensetts here at Quiet Lunch, so you can only imagine our delight when we discovered that the artist recently debuted a charming photozine titled Pepperpot. Sharing its namesake with a popular and delicious Guyanese dish, Pepperpot is a gathering of striking images shot by Abbensetts. As a whole, the zine is a collective snapshot of Abbensetts’ …
Work Hard, Sleep Hard: Making your Bedroom Work for Work
Recently, while drawing on my own experience living in one of these pricey shoeboxes NYC calls an apartment, I wrote an article on how to make a miniature bedroom a livable space. Well, I practice what I preach; I now have a very livable, cozy spot for rest and relaxation. However, what I didn’t prepare for were the parts of …
Cuntfessions: There’s A Target in the East Village Now & Other Metaphors
Will keeping apprised of the constant changes in New York only and always result in mourning what it used to be? Even and especially if you never really experienced it at its now overly romanticized peak, 1980-82 (once Madonna got legitimately famous in ’83, everything was over). How you used to look at it as you might your first love …
KAY ROSEN ON HER MURAL ‘DIVISIBILITY’ AT FRONT CLEVELAND TRIENNIAL
FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art opened last week in Northeast Ohio. The exhibition, which is modeled after documenta in Kassel, Germany, connects international artists and curators with major museums, institutions, alternative spaces, and civic spaces, throughout the Great Lakes region. The inaugural triennial, under the leadership of director Fred Bidwell and Artistic Director Michelle Grabner, invited artists to …
*New* Houston Bowery Wall Mural: Tristan Eaton x “Intermission”
The icon Houston Bowery Wall located in East Village, NYC received its latest mural by LA-based artist and designer, Tristan Eaton. Quiet LunchQuiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote various aspects of life and culture with a loving, but brute, educational tinge. When we say, “Creative Sustenance Daily,” we mean it. quietlunch.com
Graves – A Web Series to Die For
The web series that I’m into at the moment is Graves which is about a group of friends who are about to say goodbye to their twenties (yeah, my first thought was grow a pair, try saying goodbye to your forties, fuckers, but I’m trying to remain empathetic in the latter half of 2018) and are living in a small …
Myles Hendrik: Dreams Of LA Photographs
Artist & Poet Myles Hendrik Brings “Dreams Of L.A. Photographs” To Maxfield Gallery, LA. Myles Hendrik is arguably one of the most sought-after DJ’s in the world. Counting the likes of Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, The Weeknd, Mark Ronson, and Kendrick Lamar as some of his frequent and devoted collaborators, this in-demand man about town is also credited with …
A Studio Visit with Chuck Manion
Artist Chuck Manion is much like the architect protagonist Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead: fiercely independent, autonomous thinking, a man of action. And like Howard Roark, fame and fortune are not a driving force governing the creative process or life trajectory. The integrity of their art is. Mr. Manion is concerned as much about the proper hanging for …
Donkey Days & Donkey Nights: Aaron Fowler Seizes The Moment
“Basically, I’m an artist, so I make to figure out things,” claims the mixed-media artist Aaron Fowler less than three hours before his show, Donkey Nights (June 27 – August 10, 2018), is set to open on Bowery. Fowler expresses this notion through his enormous, oceanic eyes; sensitive two-way mirrors which convey a completely justifiable exhaustion and a blissful meta-fugue state, …
Decomposition Opening Night (Photo Recap)
Thanks to all who came out for the opening of Decomposition by Stu Watson. Stu gave an amazing tour of this collection. If you missed the show and are interested in purchasing pieces from this collection, visit our Collector’s Corner. Check out the photos from last night below. Quiet LunchQuiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote …
Ideal Home
Yo, it is 20-freaking-18 and I know one thing for sure. The Ideal Home if you believe in fairies, leprechauns and unicorns may indeed exist but no one is sure what that magical construct looks like. What kind of parents make an ideal home? No clue. What I do believe is that no one starts off thinking that they are …
Mad Maximalism: Home Decor Trends
In today’s tech-heavy world, our sensory-stimulation demands are high, but the supply is more than sufficient- a daily instagram feed is enough visual content to fill up one of those heavy-ass Art books that pretentious-ass folks slap on their coffee tables and never open. The supply is so high in fact, our sensory stimulation habits have been bleeding into the …
New Music. | “Come Along” | Les Techno.
Grease pencils, analog contraptions, razor blades — and every musical genre spanning Jazz to Reggae — have worked to bolster Les Techno‘s creative repertoire. “Come Along,” is the most recent single from the New York musician. Previous experience gained in bands like Love Posse and Sim-Stim have helped to cultivate Techno’s individual artistry. Les’ strength lies in his inexplicable ability to make …
New Music. | “Karma” | Queen Naija.
“Maybe I should have loved me first,” laments Queen Naija. On “Karma,” the Detroit native’s follow-up to her meteoric smash “Medicine,” Queen contemplates questions of self-worth. After wasting time with a fuck boy, she successfully topples doubt. Naija emerges as a self-assured and secured woman. Regardless of any controversy, back on June 29, Queen Naija, and her “Karma,” earned the …
19-Year-Old Artist And Producer Joel Ronson Drops “Waiting For You” Exclusive Music Video And Interview.
Joel Ronson, a beyond precocious 19-year-old producer, composer and multi-hat musician, doesn’t have a middle name, so he did what any creative kid would do: he made one up. “I used to pretend that it was Bruce,” he says with his delightfully soft yet calculated English accent while crafting a hand-rolled cigarette out on the sunny back patio of an …
Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato’s Repurposing of the Word Bitch Toward Men
As the Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato collaboration, “Solo,” continues to be one of many songs of the summer that keep you driving with its upbeat tone to whatever corporation has a vise grip on your balls, one must take pause to consider the fraught nature of the video. Unlike most English people, lead vocalist Grace Chatto has a sense …
Music Video. | “Solara” | The Smashing Pumpkins.
Entrenched in an ethereal world of dreams, “Solara,” demonstrates a nostalgic sleepwalk from The Smashing Pumpkins. Through the lens of director, Nick Koenig, the infectious sound is amplified by a seamless visual. Exploring isolation versus obsession the pioneering Alternative Rock band further solidifies their 30 year relevance. Stay woke; on July 12, the upcoming North American-leg of the, Shiny And Oh So Bright …
Music Video. | “El Farsante (Remix)” | Ozuna X Romeo Santos.
No stranger to strife, OZUNA, is determined to use his gifts to positively impact the world. Dedicated to lyricism, the Puerto Rican superstar is inherently moved by melody. Before his debut album, Odisea, was released, previous songs earned both respect and acclaim for their tangible and realistic perspectives. Once, Romeo Santos, hopped on the “El Farsante (remix),” history was made! …
NEW Music Video: “Sad” by XXXTentacion.
Visuals for XXXTentacion’s hit song “Sad!” was posthumously released today and the video is autobiographical and shockingly foreboding. The rapper was gunned down in Deerfield, Florida last week and the video’s death-centric theme only adds to the clairvoyant lore that surrounds the deceased emcee. Written and creatively directed by X himself, the shows him attending his own funeral–presumably a funeral …
Linden Hopwood Channels Kip Omolade: Coincidence or Plagiarism?
With the news of Donald Glover’s hit “This is America” possibly being a product of plagiarization, I coincidentally discovered the same scenario in the arts. For those who aren’t aware, Glover is being accused of ripping off a song, “American Pharoah”, by the lesser known rapper named Jase Harley. When you listen to both songs, there is an uncanny similarity …
Musing on the Impossible: The Holographic Worlds of M.C. Escher at Industry City, Brooklyn NY
Yesterday my brain melted. At ESCHER. The Exhibition & Experience, one of New York’s 2018 must-see exhibitions, the Dutch artist’s perspective-mangling worlds sent my mind spinning. Because of my passion for Op and Kinetic art, I was a kid in a candy store. Thanks to the clever, interactive installations that pepper a flawlessly curated selection of Escher’s works, I got …
A Shade of Pale Curated by Carrie Scott @ The Store X, London, Review by Edward Lucie Smith
180 Strand is one of those betwixt and between spaces, found in big cities such as London, that from time to time play host to interesting art shows. It is a former office block, in classic Brutalist style, which seems to be always perpetually in a state of restoration and renovation. It is centrally located, very close to Somerset House, …
Klavdia Balampanidou. | Hand to Mouth.
Currently based in Cyprus, Klavdia Balampanidou is yet another perfect example of a creative finding therapy in the work. Balampandiou newest series, From Hand to Mouth, draws from an autobiographical well anxiety, depression, fragility and instability. The series takes its name from a 1967 Bruce Nauman sculpture. Akeem K. Duncan.Akeem is our founder. A writer, poet, curator and profuse sweater, …
How to Make an NYC “Bedroom” Work for You
I recently moved back into Manhattan after living in Astoria, Queens for two years. I won’t say anything bad about Astoria but I will repeat what a deli owner summed the spot up with: “Astoria is worldly… but not cultured.” Now, I’m no snob- what I missed most about the city was its dirt, its soot-stained streets that looked like …
When Your Gravity Fails and Negativity Don’t Pull You Through, or, Good Medicine for Bad Vibes
Ever walk into an art gallery and felt harmony, serenity, and the presence of a strong force for good? At Paradigm Gallery, artists Dennis McNett and Alex Yanes, with their allegorical totems and spiritual adumbrations, hope to envelop viewers in the warmth of their mellow vibes, through the medium of the collective unconscious. A number of the pieces are in fact …
The Death of XXXTentacion: An Open Letter to Those Who Thinks He Got What He Deserved.
On June 18 2018, rising music star XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was gunned down while leaving a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Two men approached X shortly before 4 p.m. After a very brief exchange one of the two men opened fire on his black BMW and then fled in what appeared to be an attempted robbery. The …
New Music. | ‘Streams of Thought, Vol. 1’ | Black Thought X 9th Wonder.
Black Thought is Art. The acclaimed creator keeps cultivating his unique perspective. Life invested into rhyme, The Roots, has showcased some of the adept MC’s most brilliant work. With the sublime combination of 9th Wonder and Black Thought, an amazing EP, Streams of Thought Vol. 1 has come to fruition. The five-track endeavor displays demonstrations of dope. Rapsody, Styles P, …
Defining The Demiurge With Artist Justin Orvis Steimer
Almost a decade ago, in my earliest days living in New York City proper (I’m a Long Island boy), I met a tall, quiet, slightly shy, longhaired artist at the coolest annual improvisational jazz-meets-blues jam on the Upper East Side. This was Justin Orvis Steimer. The party, thrown every year on jazz legend “Duke” Ellington’s birthday (April 29th), took place …
Summer 1993-The Timelessness of Loss
Memory is unreliable, facts are not. Summer 1993 takes us back to a time when AIDS was a death sentence and children whose parent died of AIDS-related illnesses were orphans and bore the stigmata of a disease that was sexually transmitted. Feelings like memories are not visible yet both palpable and ephemeral. We think we remember how we felt, how …
Window Dressing: Artist Elliott De Cesare at Bergdorf Goodman.
The other day, while walking from the Quiet Lunch offices on Fifth Avenue and 27th Street to a meeting further up Fifth by The Plaza Hotel, we couldn’t help but stop and stare at the magnificent window display at Bergdorf Goodman, the world’s premier fashion retailer. Not being Christmas, it’s rare our eyes spot something in the windows to temporarily …
The Color Association’s Emily Mann Forecasts 2018-2019’s Color Trends for Interiors | Interior Design
Have you ever wondered why Dior chose shades of raspberry and wine for their 2018 limited edition nail polish line? Or why Nate Berkus’ Target collection teems with sandy tones and warm neutrals? Well, you can look to The Color Association of The United States (CAUS) and its color council for your answer. CAUS formed after the Industrial Revolution to …
Won’t You Be My Neighbor– I’m sorry, I just can’t but you should
I can’t do it. I just can’t bring myself to see Won’t You Be My Neighbor. the documentary about Fred Rogers and his children’s show, “Mister Rogers’, Neighborhood.” The film is totally legit. It has Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom) directing a documentary about a subject audiences think they know everything about but evidently, do not. The …
When You Were Little You Used to Color Opening Exhibition (Photo Recap).
Last week was the first truly Spring-like week in New York City, so the Thursday Art Walk was sure to excite art enthusiasts and buyers alike. The homie and longtime friend to Quiet Lunch, Gregory Siff, homecoming exhibition When You Were Little You Used To Color at 4AM Gallery. I was so amazed to see Gregory’s style and canvas evolve and …
To A More Perfect Union: U.S. V. Windsor – Another Year, Another Decision
From the moment you decide to have a wedding and not elope it can be a shit show of details. The wedding industrial complex includes shelves devoted to magazines at newsstands, television shows like, Say Yes to the Dress, themed weddings, destination weddings, religious, civil and skydiving ceremonies, and an entire jewelry racket to navigate. Weddings rank right up there …
Anthony Bourdain Was a Friend of Mine
Anthony Bourdain was not a friend of mine. In fact, some of those who know me well thought of him as my bête noir. I thought of him as my bête noir. But I didn’t know the man. I had read his piece, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This”, in the New Yorker in 1999, and it had resonated with me …
J. Lo Switches Track in Her Assurance of “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” to Yo Quiero “Dinero”
While the early 00s might have been a far more concrete example of a time when the U.S. was clinging as best as it could to the excesses it enjoyed in the 80s and 90s, Jennifer Lopez chose to go the “Can’t Buy Me Love” route of The Beatles’ pre-antiwar driven 60s with the repackaged sentiment, “Love Don’t Cost A …
Leah Guadagnoli Just Wants To See You Underwater
Someone once wrote that New York City was a place that could destroy you by simply ignoring you (okay it was me). But being ignored is not an option when one produces work for public consumption, so artists allow themselves, nay, insist upon, the public and private flaying that often accompanies their entrée into the New York art scene. But …
When You Were Little You Used to Color. | Gregory Siff at 4AM Gallery
Mercedes-Benz, Tao Group and Casa Noble Tequila are proud to announce the latest collection of work by the evocative American artist Gregory Siff. The exhibition is a homecoming for Gregory, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Rockaway Beach, Queens. It is here that his murals in the Rockaway Beach Surf Club bathrooms were included in the MoMA PS1’s show …
Transplants: Greek Diaspora Artists
Currently on view at The Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice is Transplants: Greek Diaspora Artists. Curated by Dr. Thalia Vrachopoulos, this culturally energetic show sets out to explore “the unique nature of diasporic art by Greek and Greek-American artists in the age of globalism.” Expertly installed within …
Adam Stennett Proves A Humble Master With His Water Paintings
How does or how should someone approach Adam Stennett’s Water Paintings (also the title of his current solo show at Gallery Poulsen in Copenhagen, Denmark)? Where does one begin? In the womb, figuratively and metaphorically, of course, or maybe. The title seems to ask for an open mind. But what does that even mean anymore? In 2018, “Open mind,” as …
Coming to My Senses- Transforming Limitations into Possibilities
Aaron Baker was barely out of diapers when he learned how to ride a motorcycle at the age of three. At the age of 20, he was no longer able to feed himself after a crash, breaking C4-5,6 vertebrae, rendering him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chin down. Aaron who had been highly capable could no longer do anything for …
Master of None’s Eric Wareheim is a Master of Wine
Eric Wareheim is a funny fucking guy. His gangly, goofy looks have propelled his comic adventures into SpaceX territory on groundbreaking shows like “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”, while his endearing kookiness has helped make season two of “Master of None”, Aziz Ansari’s Netflix hit, an absurdist journey of deranged sanity and brolicious indulgence. Wareheim is truly silly, …
Last Chance: Emilio Cavallini’s Objectual Abstractions in Washington D.C
It was an early summer day in Washington D.C. and the air was perfumed with the sweet scent emitted from globes of white, fragrant flowers popping out on the branches, trees, and balconies of Georgetown’s grand homes. Yet another variety of abstract, flower-like wall sculptures were “blooming” and filling the Capital with colors and kinetic energy: Emilio Cavallini’s dynamic works, …
Unknown Horizon, The Art of Kelly Berg, Craig Krull Gallery
Kelly Berg creates dense textural compositions while playing with the dichotomies of flat vs sculptural space. The extreme energy embodied in her work gives the viewer the sense that her paintings emerge from both internal and external forces that lie just beyond the artist’s own conscious control. Kelly Berg’s current solo show, called Unknown Horizon, at Craig Krull Gallery Santa …
Music Video. | “Pay Up” | Rapsody.
he art of gold-digging is explored on, “Pay Up,” the latest release from, Rapsody. This lyrical dissertation probes the juxtaposition of male and female parasitic partners. Within the Brian Petchers-directed visual, an effortless representation of Jamla Records is on display. Sultry vocals from Heather Victoria, only adds to the emphatic Ka$h Don’t Make Beats / Khrysis production. Rap, a 9th Wonder protégée and a Roc Nation ambassador, is …