Like the Spices Presents:
OUR Official Roster for Fountain Miami 2007
Anna Druzcz
Rachel Beach
Jason Bryant
Liz Brown
Chadwick Whitehead
Brian LaRossa
Ross Racine
Please join us, Like the Spice, as we take Miami by storm at Fountain Miami
Thursday Dec 6th until Sunday December 9th with a press brunch preview on Thursday morning Dec 6th at 9am until 11am and a reception for the artists on Friday Dec 7th from 7pm until midnight.
2841 NW 2nd Avenue in the Wynwood Gallery District
Monday, November 5, 2007
Miami bringin heat for real
Sunday, November 4, 2007
I got 99 problems but dinner plans ain't one
Let Like The Spice change your alphabet.
Put U and I together for dinner.
Friday, November 30th at 7:30pm.
Make your reservation before Tuesday, November 27th. Call us at 718.388.5388
or email info@likethespice.com.
Reservations required
Like the Spice has a history of making guests feel special. Now we want to treat you right. Come enjoy a catered dinner that's positively soaked in art, featuring an organic delights, performance art group House of Malcontents, and artist Jason Bryant.
Served family style, our dinner series is designed to let you enjoy the hoi poloi. First you'll be challenged by House of Malcontents. Previously appearing at Like The Spice, this performance art team has turned a subway car into a comfy home and held a tea party in Central Park, as well as making a cloud filled sky in a room at the Whitney. House of Malcontents plans to turn the whole dinner into a piece, and even though they are keeping it secret, we have heard rumors of edible artwork and interactive serving...
Joining HOM will be Jason Bryant, artist of our current show, Fleshpot. Jason's work inspires thoughtful consideration of the sort of images we've become used to tuning out, and will make for a striking backdrop, just as his knowledge of art and theory will lead us easily into intelligent conversation. We are very pleased to have him.
Our sponsor for the night is Pernod, so drink up! Somebody as pretty as you deserves a little fun.
$40 (includes all food and drink)
November 30th
Doors open at 7:30pm
Dinner/ perfomance begins at 8:00pm
E-mail or call the gallery for reservations.
Reservations required before November 27th
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Fleshpot
Jason Bryant: Fleshpot
November 16th – December 14th 2007
Opening Friday November 16th 6:30-10:00pm
“I won’t be happy till I’m as famous as God.”
-Madonna
Stop, drop and roll, baby, ‘cause you are on fire! Just for you, Like the Spice presents an exhibition of new works by Jason Bryant. Now you’ll have a chance to stare. Jason’s unique approach to popular culture and his lavishly detailed, pristinely finished canvasses and drawings make this show a must-see.
Mirrors are so shiny that you can’t see them; you can only see yourself reflected back. Jason Bryant’s paintings are a half-silvered mirror, reflecting and clandestinely observing consumer culture and it’s effects simultaneously. Vigorously cropped, these pieces narrow our focus to cultural and emotional markers. (Who are you wearing tonight? Don’t you just love it?) We’re never quite sure if the subject is a celebrity or just the kid down the block, but the smiles seem like they might be faked and the clothes look like costumes. Each persona is a mask made for public presentation. Sometimes fake smiles are a natural reaction to an uncomfortable situation. Sometimes they are simply the default mode.
Bryant’s paintings restage cultural performances like headshots and advertisements but reinvest their stars with a bit of privacy, a bit of agency. Ironically, by cropping out the eyes and other foci, the faces seem more truthfully expressive; they express the importance of the mask. Fake is the new real. What if you called a press conference but all you could do was smile? What if that made you indestructible?
Jason Bryant (b. 1976) grew up in rural North Carolina. Encouraged by his mentor, Paul Hartley of East Carolina University, Jason's fascination with drawing was replaced by a love for painting. After receiving his BFA, Jason moved to Baltimore, where his internship for the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Art and Culture introduced him to many of the contemporaries with which he works today.
His relationship with this community of artists was furthered when he was accepted to the Maryland Institute College of Art, and he received his MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art graduate program in 2004. He moved to Brooklyn in 2005 and began work as an assistant to artist Kehinde Wiley.
Jason’s work has broad appeal, and has appeared in multiple shows, from Nebraska, North Carolina and Maryland to New York, L.A. and London. In the past four years, Jason's paintings have been chosen for such publications as The Baltimore City Paper, Link Magazine, Direct art Magazine volumes 5 and 7, and New Art International. Jason believes his art attempts to reflect our world back at us, and tries to better illuminate people's understanding.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Perfect For Tiny Climbers
On October 21st Like The Spice held our monthly dinner! This time the theme was Asian Landscapes, featuring wonderful food and only slightly more wonderful art.
Our first speaker was bonsai expert Martin Haber (on the far left, slightly hidden by a bonsai). Unscheduled, but still just as important, was his wife, Ruth Haber (owner of the hand beside Martin). The pair spoke about bonsai with the sort of hilarious interaction you only find in two people with a deep love for both their subject and each other. Those tiny trees are in good hands.
Next was curator Eric LoPresti. Eric spoke on the role of curation and his decisions in making our current show, The Variegated Landscape, as well as his passion for landscapes themselves. It was a valuable insight into the "behind the scenes" of art.
Following Eric was Mary Mattingly, whose work "Advanced Forestry" is a arresting sculpture made from a variety of media, including sound, that represents the way nature and technology are coming to blows, specifically around the wild honeybee. As more bees vanish from the landscape each month, theories fly as to what is causing them to die. Mary forces us to confront one of the most popular, that it is our cell phone towers causing the damage to one of the most important parts of our food chain. It is a sobering issue and well worth the attention.
Finally Melissa Dubbin showed us a presentation about her art, from laser etching techniques to the use of video. She included a preview of her upcoming "Songs For Psychos" which left the whole dinner amused and excited.
We thank Zen Palate for catering the fantastic meal. It was a great night for every one of our guests, ranging from gallery owners to artists to bonsai fans, and we look forward to next month. You should join us then! Keep an eye on our home page for upcoming details.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Grill Bill
On October 20th, come enjoy the clash of cultures as Like The Spice follows up September's
This delicious way to spend an evening will also feature Steve Robinson, Paul Whiting, Mary Mattingly and Melissa Dubbin, all three artists involved in our current show,
Also, and we cannot stress this enough, reservations are highly recommended. Contact us at info@likethespice.com or call 718-388-5388 to save your space.
(From the blog of Mary Mattingly)Advanced Forestry: to represent the prosthetic collision of nature and technology. These trees are a cross between cell phone towers and natural trees. Webs of copper wire and other braided or latticed semiconductors surround these hybrids, with satellites made from maps and with variety of metal antennas.
As we know, a recent connection has been made between cell phone towers and the harming of nature, specifically, the bee population. Scientists are stating that a 25% loss in bee population in eleven countries may be due to their homing sensors conflicting with the amount of cell phone radio waves running through the air. Maps from every country suspected of bee loss due to cell phone rays were used to make satellites and bee hives on Advanced Forestry.
Beep click BEEP click beepbeepclickclick.
On Friday, October 12th, as part of the Williamsburg 2nd Friday experience, Like The Spice welcomed noted DJ Tim "Love" Lee and began our new show, The Variegated Landscape. In keeping with the theme, Tim "Love" Lee filled the gallery with a aural ocean, populating it with the squeaks and clicks of imaginary dolphins as they mingled and enjoyed the art. And speaking of the art, The Variegated Landscape will have an artist's reception on Friday, October 19th, which would be an ideal time to come and see the sculpture, paintings and drawings. The Variegated Landscape runs until November 11th.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Like the Spice does Miami! Fountain style
Click this text to see our page on the Fountain Miami website.
The new website has launched please check it out and pass it on.
The avant-garde has always laid claim to history through its challenges and victories over the status quo. In 1917, at the unjuried Society of Artists exhibition, Marcel Duchamp unveiled the world’s most famous ready-made art object: “Fountain”. It is in this spirit of the unexpected that some of Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s most forward-thinking and cutting-edge galleries have collaborated to present "Fountain Miami." The exhibition will make its mark in a massive 5000 square foot wharehouse at: 2825 NW 2nd Avenue in the Wynwood Gallery District, in close proximity to various other international art fairs, the Rubell Family Collection and many local galleries. Fountian Art Fair will run Thursday Dec 6th until Sunday December 9th with a press brunch preview on Thursday morning Dec 6th at 9am until 11am and a reception for the artists on Friday Dec 7th from 7pm until midnight.
"Fountain Miami" is a guerrilla-style art fair - under the radar, but highly influential. "Fountain" was launched in March 2006 in New York, in an effort to leverage support for independent galleries largely overlooked by corporate-sponsored art fairs. In defiant contrast with both Art Basel Miami Beach, Pulse, Scope and the slew of other International art fairs, "Fountain" has received wide public support and critical acclaim for its independent slant. This independent aspect gives Fountain its edge: young galleries showcasing fresh work without official booth spaces or selection committee juries. In form and spirit, the artwork shown truly reflects the avant-garde and in-your-face attitude equated with the Dada movement.
Fountain Miami is currently featuring the galleries: Ad Hoc, Bipolart, Buenas Artes, Capla Kesting Fine Art, Front Room Gallery, Steven Gagnon, Gitana Rosa, Glowlab, Like The Spice, McCaig-Welles Gallery, Miguel Paredes, and Yum Yum Factory.
Come and experience the unfiltered, uncouth and enterprising excitement of Fountain. See advanced art as it was meant to be seen – without blinders, without “taste merchants" – straight from the source.
Media Contact - David Kesting 917-650-3760 or John Leo 917-292-8865
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