Like the Spice parties at the Tunnel in Bridge Art Fair NYC Booth #35

Like the Spice is thrilled to announce our participation in Bridge Art Fair New York March 5-8 at The Water Front 222 12th Avenue (the old Tunnel night club). Bridge New York is noted as one of the most influential presenters of international emerging contemporary art, and it is a top destination for collectors, curators and arts patrons. Bridge New York '09 will feature over 50 exhibitors, a large percentage of which will be international.

Press From Last Year:
New York Times
The New York Times stopped by The Bridge Art Fair on Friday and took a good hard look around. They seem to have been very pleased, and with good reason! Take a quick look of your own and see what you missed, as well as what's still waiting for you to discover.

James Kalm Report
Here are all the artists we are Bringing with us for the festivities!





Rachel Beach's multifaceted wood veneer and oil paint constructions are derived from details of art, architecture and design history. Her works have been described as " tough, precise and disciplined with a hard edged cheeriness" and "steeped in a pleasant pluralism, bound by a shared material intelligence".

Allison Edge works primarily in oil on canvas and watercolor on paper. Her work captures recurring themes of youth worship and idealized beauty, and are influenced by fashion advertising, boyfriends/friends, Pre-Raphaelites and growing up in the 80’s.

Dean Goelz’s sculptures and drawings depict the slightly odd ways we interact with each other and our environment, and the tenuous grip society and culture have on our gentle animal natures. Using a kind of reverse anthropomorphism, the characters depicted in his work evoke protective instincts usually reserved for cute animals and babies.

Jenny Morgan’s physiological portraiture manipulates the figure to expose an individual's idiosyncrasies. Working with people from her own life as subject matter allows Morgan to hone in on specifics of their character and present their personalities as she experiences them.

Plus a special collaborative piece by Jenny Morgan and David Mramor!

Ross Racine’s digital prints are drawn completely freehand, on the computer. Joined together the pieces reveal familiar opposites of handmade and digital, organic and mechanical, subjective and technological, physical and virtual.

Nicole Stager resin encased photogram cubes "that have spectacular array of saturated color, lightness and movement. While the photograms emanate warmth and openness, their methodology and the uncertainty of their sources gives them air of mystery, too." from
papermag.com

Du-licious dinners and Pleasing Readings

Things just went right at Friday night's "Du-licious" Dinner. Precisely the same number of guests arrived as there were seats to be filled at the table. The wine on the table was exactly sufficient to fill every glass the perfect number of times, with a touch left over for the LTS crew to toast themselves with at the end of the evening. And the amount of food in surplus was just enough to expand LTS Assistant Leia's waistline ever so slightly beyond the capacity of her Levis.


Falafel Chulo chef Dija Amer prepared steaming, succulent kefta kebabs and indulgently comforting veggie fritters - all smothered in a tangy dill tzatziki. Crisp, golden sheets of fried pita with hummus whipped into savory peaks of perfection. Despite an opulent spread (hah!) of no less than four creamy middle-eastern sauces, the tablecloths escaped unscathed.


While Leia recovered sluglike on the chaise in the basement under the pretense of helping the waitstaff, LTS Assistant Scott documented the evening in photographs. That, dear readers, is why in THIS blogpost you can see what stuff is. (See our last post for comparison). The photo above shows Syed addressing the diners. The next photo, however, illustrates the hazards of letting boys use cameras.


Very funny, Scott.

On Saturday, we welcomed Jack Hofsiss and Ethan Silverman, who treated us to a performance and workshop of "Jack from Above", the true story of Jack's journey to China to find a cure for his paralysis. We had a full house again, and we were touched to see that so many members of the audience were moved to tears.



We hope to have lots more readings like this in the future at LTS! It was really cool to have a different form of artistic talent on display, and a different group of enthusiasts taking part.

Is LTS setting its sights on the world of theatre? Stay tuned for our all-singing, all-dancing, upcoming revue, "A Print Hangs in Brooklyn".

Dubai Underground Opens! Assistant Fails to Capture the Moment.

LTS Assistant Leia can print pricelists and press releases with margins meticulously even. She can plate ritz crackers in an attractive semi-circle for openings. She can enfold oil paintings in the gentle embrace of bubble wrap, and securely affix sticky-labels to walls and postcards alike.

What Assistant Leia cannot do is take a digital photograph that is in any way legible or compositionally appealing. Fuzzy blobs hover in front of what may or may not be art. Darkness reigns over crowds with orangely glowing eyes. Heads are excised with abandon.

So, I wanted to write this gorgeously illustrated blog post about how awesome last night's opening was. Instead, I'm forced to give you this:

Just to clear things up, this was an opening at an art gallery. There were beautiful photographs and prints. Pretend that there's art in this photo, and that people are looking at said art rather than staring somberly en masse at a blank wall. How I managed to capture an exact moment where EVERY SINGLE ART PIECE would be blocked by a body is a mystery of physics.


This is supposed to be a picture of a good-looking couple admiring one of Khalid's prints, but it's mostly a picture of an empty doorway.


On the plus side, this picture has both people and art. Yay me! On the downside, it looks like one of those night-vision nature documentaries about the habits of unsettling nocturnal predators.


I'm proud of this one.

Make sure to RSVP to our upcoming artist dinner, Du-Licious! You'll be happy to hear that assistant Leia will be serving hors d'oeuvres, while a more qualified intern operates the camera. It's not like I've been demoted, really. Marisa says that she wants to DIRECT my skills to where they'll be more useful. If I do okay, she says she'll think about letting me pour wine (white only)! Wish me luck!

Valentine's kisses!

LTS.A.L.

TONIGHT: Dubai Underground Opening

Hey y'all. We're opening our awesome collaborative exhibition tonight, in partnership with Mezze! It's been a long install for Rahul and Liz, but we think it's totally worth it!

From political photography to tongue-in-cheek advertising, "Dubai Underground" exposes the complex underbelly of a place steeped in wealth and culture. What ancient roots and odd contradictions still turn the wheels of this seemingly cosmopolitan city? The seven artists presented in this exhibition seek the answers to these questions, and more.

We'll be pulling out all the usual stops on this opening! Come by for a drink and some inspiration! If you missed Jenny Morgan's "Abrasions", have no fear. Her gorgeous portraits are on display in the downstairs gallery, alongside the usual show of brilliance from our cast of artists.

Be sure to RSVP for Dubai Underground's special artist dinner - "Du-Licious", Friday, February 20th, 2008. Dinner's served at 8:00pm, and RSVPs are required. This month's dinner is created by the chefs of Falafel Chulo, serving up a delicious spread of Middle Eastern cuisine! Go here to reserve your spot!

Towering above the rest!

Rachel Beach: Towers and Portals
March 7th - March 29th, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday March 7th, 6:30-10pm
Artist's Dinner: Knives & Glasses: March 13th, 8:00pm
Like the Spice is pleased to present Rachel Beach: Towers and Portals, an exhibition of the artist's conceptually elegant self-referential works.

Situated firmly in the border between sculpture and painting, illusion and reality, masculine and feminine, representation, abstraction and decoration, Rachel Beach's wooden portals and towers are crafted around cultural and biological limits. By playing painted illusion against sculptural reality each sculpture/painting creates a crisis of perception, an irresolvable tension between what you see and what is possible.

Top Five Reasons You Love Like the Spice

So, we've always known that Like the Spice is unusually awesome, but lately life has been pushing REAL hard to get the message across. Our First Friday New Artist Auction was a resounding success. Jenny Morgan spoke (that's her above, in a classic example of life-imitating-art), art was bid upon, and what with one thing and another it seemed like the time was ripe for us to put together a list of the top five reasons you LOVE Like the Spice.

On we go!

Reason #5: Our Fans Are Hot

I mean, look at them. Just look. Colette Robbins, Jenny Morgan... the hotness is undeniable. And as if that wasn't enough, almost every single person in this photograph is ridiculously good at making art. Look in the mirror. Are you Hot? Look around your studio. Do you make ridiculously good art? If you answered yes to both of these questions, congrats! You're probably a fan of Like the Spice.

Reason #4: You Are Related to Us in Six Degrees or Less

We are reminded constantly here that the art world is small. Showing here means coming to your own opening and realizing that your piece is installed next to a painting by your ex-boyfriend from college, and that your personal assistant is roommates with the girl serving wine behind the bar. It's like this crazy social vortex of AWESOME.
(By the way, Like the Spice shows work by Jason Bryant, who works for Kehinde Wiley, who's done a portrait of Ice-T who lent his voice to "The Magic 7" alongside KEVIN BACON.)

Reason #3: The Internet Loves Us

Did we tell you that we've been featured in FOUR different blogs/articles in like two days? Yeah. Domestic Attempts, ARTMostFierce, ArtNews, and HeartsArena have all joined LTS's fan base. 'Cause we're cool.

Reason #2: Our Interns are Hot

These are more than just the smiling enablers of your drinking habit. They're also the finely tuned team that aligns the wheels and shines the sleek body of Like the Spice. You know, like those whaddoyoucallem maintenence teams who run alongside race-cars? In jumpsuits? Anyway. These are the souls that daily face the purgatorial cleaning of the storage closet. Who run to pick up the packages of others at the post-office armed with false identification information. Who dig in their heels to tightly hold the leash of Tabitha the Dog, saving the Chinese delivery guy from her slavering jaws and barely-concealed racism. Yes, without them, LTS would be a far sadder place.

And finally, Reason #1 that YOU LOVE LIKE THE SPICE:
The Party Never Stops, and You're Always Invited

If you haven't got anything to do on weekends, it SURE ISN'T OUR FAULT. Openings, closings, First Fridays, Exhibition Previews, Meetup Tours, Artist Talks, Dinners! We've always got something cooking - next Friday, for example. It's the opening of Dubai Underground, and we want to extend a very personal invitation to you as a guest of honor. All you supporters, friends, and artists who give so much are the reason that LTS keeps on rocking, and we're gonna keep making sure that your schedule is crammed with as much art and awesomeness as you can handle.


Lots of <3 (but screw Valentine's Day),

LTS

IT'S Gettin', IT'S Gettin', IT's Gettin' Kinda Hectic

The Lucky #7 of ARTmostfierce's The Current State of the ART Market Series goes to Marisa Sage, Gallery Owner of the Like The Spice Gallery in Brooklyn, NYC. Marisa has some interesting concepts and approach to the gallery business. Let's see what she is sharing with us!

Ruben Natal-San Miguel- Please tell us about your Gallery...Location? Type of gallery?


Marisa Sage-I opened Like the Spice Gallery in June of 2006 with the aim of fostering the careers of emerging artists by allowing them to show in public group and solo exhibitions. I exhibit both Digital formats as well as traditional methods. Our artists push their medium; our paintings are fresh and our digital art is not just about the pixels, as stated in our mission statement. I would say that my artists primarily create works with a very specific marriage of technique and aesthetic prowess, as well as a compelling conceptual agenda. Each artist has learned to balance their technical mastery with a sound conceptual statement. We are a commercial gallery with roots in the Williamsburg neighborhood, Over 80% of our artists make work within 15 miles of the gallery.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BETWEEN MARISA & RUBEN!


Above, "a digital photograph from the series “Held Back,” 2006, by Dubai artist Reem Al Ghaith". Reem will be one of the artist featured in the next group exhibition Dubai Underground, here at Like the Spice Gallery. Opening Friday February 13th 2009. 6:30-10:00pm.
Reem also featured further in ‘An Oasis in the Desert’, an article in this months Art News.

COURTESY THE ARTIST
Governments in the United Arab Emirates are spending billions of dollars in an ambitious, unprecedented effort to create cultural districts with world-class museums—along with a support system of creators, dealers, and collectors. But many Western art professionals wonder if this massive undertaking, launched at a dizzying scale and pace, can be successful
by Sharon Waxman


CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE on artnews.com.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PRESS FOR DUBAI UNDERGROUND AT LIKE THE SPICE GALLERY.


Domestic Attempts
The Weekly Picks, One Day Late
Our third pick of the week comes to us from Like The Spice Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. This piece has the potential to offend some of you, and if it does, I apologize. I believe that art should be challenging, and serve to open up dialogue between people. The purpose of art is not just to be pleasant to look at - artists have a responsibility to address issues, which in this case, is religion.

CLICK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

LASTLY GREAT NEWS!!!

Like the Spice Gallery Owner Marisa Sage was chosen by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Ms. Sage will be seated on stage to represent Like the Spice Gallery and the other Williamsburg Galleries as one of 40 noteworthy Brooklynites, during Mr. Markowitz's State of the Borough Address.