plenty to see
ONE.
Despina Stokou, Emoji Poem, Athens Greece
standing on an island
A white tent, a humongous white tent, pregnant with hundreds of works paralleling the FDR on Randalls’ Island. Housing art, books, coffee and the humans to consume them, this white tent took place over one private viewing day and four public viewing ones.
Two center aisles served as the heart of the structure of the exhibition, with two exteriors aisles on the east and west. Along those aisles one could discover how coffee played a sartorial role with art. Four vendors – three coffee shops and one grocer serviced the crowd. The coffee shops were, Parlor Coffee, El Rey NYC, (Parlor), Cafe Pedlar (Stumptown) and grocer, Court Street Grocers providing drip coffee.
For the culture, it was thoughtful for the vendor organizers to provide four options for coffee and talk and noticeable each cafe setting held to a modern monochromatic exhibition space with minimal pops of color.. Between the aisles of Court Street Grocers and Cafe Pedlar, art installations and installed seats, this beauty, Emoji Poem, by Greek artist Despina Stoukou. It had the culture catching all kinds of feelings.
TWO
Artistic rendering of Chanel Cruise Ship, 2016/2017 – @instagram
viva la coco
Havana, Cuba
If Chanel could be Chanel to the third power, then Cuba and its historical culture including coffee would be the visual landscape to employ a trifecta to take it there. Consider it as happened, happening. A central catwalk between marble benches on the Paseo de Prado on May 2 – the first Tuesday in May – after the first Monday in May Met Gala, served as the event that gave Chanel more cultural cool if that’s even possible, as Lagerfeld put on his Cruise Ship Collection 2016/2017. While the show is over, more than 200 photos of the designers interests – fashion, architecture and landscapes – remains.
“The exhibition entitled “Obra en Proceso / Work in Progress” explores the diversity of photographic motifs, approaches and techniques that define Karl Lagerfeld’s subtle and highly personal interpretation of fashion, architecture and landscape. “Today, photography is part of my life. It completes the circle between my artistic and professional restlessness,” says the creator.” Chanel. Free and on view until May 12. Factoria Habana
THREE
Table for Three, New York Times
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President
American president, Barack Obama has a seat at Table for Three with The New York Times and actor Bryan Cranston, formerly of “Breaking Bad” and HBO’s “All The Way“. The candid conversation covered topics from the impact their childhood has had on their roles as parents to the experience of being a celebrity and raising a family in the spotlight. In the private dining room with a perceptible coffee on the table, the two discussed their drives to be storytellers and how the pursuit of such caused them to lose their anonymity – it created a distraction from their initial passions. It reminds one of the battle, albeit a good one, between the private and public, and the kind of talk one can be candid about over coffee.
“So some of the spontaneity you had before, making change in a coffee shop or striking up a conversation, disappears.”
Here’s to hoping your next coffee and/or tea talk allows for the same.