Luncheon #6
So many magazines promise the latest news of creatives and the creative world that it can be refeshing to find one that takes a longer view of the subject. Luncheon does just that, its latest issue a 242-page serving of conversations and images that make even the newest stories appear timeless. Its premise of sharing lunch with its subjects produces a perfect context for the stories they share.
This sixth issue features names like gallerist Maureen Paley, who shares a visual collection of idols and loves over lunch with Charlie Porter; painter Kerry James Marshall (his work features on the front cover of the issue) eats with his wife, friends and Luncheon editor Frances von Hofmannsthal; and my favourite guest in the issue, artist/designer David Gentleman, invites Sarah Mower to his London kitchen (below). I love his work and it’s a pleasure to read an in-depth interview that covers his career and life in London, including illustrations for the Royal College of Art magazine Ark and his early work on Patience Gray’s ‘Plat du Jour’ book. In a nice touch typical of the magazine, an interview with Gray precedes Gentleman’s.
Although slightly smaller now than its launch size, Luncheons’s large pages remain outsized and it’s the photography and fashion stories that make the most of this. A series of photographs by Snowdon of the early days of Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theare of Harlem are a wonderful slice of history, an accompanying excerpt from a conversation between the two men from the time providing just enough context.
Shifting to today, Paolo Reversi’s fashion story starring his daughter Stella with illustrated additions by Julien D’Ys is just the type of classicly beautiful story that will one day be referenced in another publication looking back at our times.
Luncheon is one of those titles that has quietly established itself with little fuss over the past couple of years. This is their best issue yet, so don’t let its reserved confidence fool you into ignoring it.
Editor: Frances von Hofmannsthal
Creative director: Thomas Persson