Dewey Decimal Dinner makes Melvil Dewey himself jealous!

 So, I bet you had no idea who Melvil Dewey was until you read this blog title, am I right? Well, now you know that the inventor of the prestigious Dewey Decimal System was indeed one Mr. Melvil Dewey. Now, go forth and rain some knowledge at some Brooklyn bar trivia night! Ok, ok, so that was a bit off topic, but seriously, Melvil was a really cool guy. Anyway...

  

So, last night was the Dewey Decimal Dinner, our much anticipated final Like the Spice Artist Dinner in our 224 Roebling Street, Williamsburg location. It was a truly lovely time. Hans + Gieves were our guests of honor and were there to speak about their collaborative show "Cross-Reference," and all about their artistic partnership that has gone one for more than a decade. The main table took up almost the entire gallery floor and everyone had a fantastic view of the gorgeous work up around them. Not only did we have class A artwork to drool over, but the food (THE FOOD!) was spectacular as well...

 Our three course meal was created by the lovely and talented Ms. Neilie Meyer, the mastermind behind The Starving Artist Bakery. We started off with a refreshing and crisp beet chopped salad with roasted walnuts, romaine lettuce, with a light lemon vinaigrette. This appe-teaser was then followed by a blue cheese and garlic confit stuffed pork tenderloin served with a potato and kale pancake, and finished with a pomegranate jus and a delicate dab of aioli. It was rad. I ate a lot of it, maybe more than I really needed to (but of course this is how you really know something is delicious).

Am I making you hungry? Basically it was all delicious, right down to the spring berry buttermilk cake that was served with tiny rubies of pomegranate seeds and a sheer sprinkling of powdered sugar. I'd like to purchase one ticket to YUM TOWN please, am I right?!

If you missed the dinner I am sorry, it was not to be missed BUT you do have a chance to redeem yourself by making sure you stop by the gallery anytime between now and May 27th to check out "Cross-Reference: Hans + Gieves," you will be glad you did. And if you really want to try and relive The Dewey Decimal Dinner just ask Marisa or Olivia to recount the courses for you, if they describe them well enough you may be able to imagine how good they all were...

Catalog of Events: The opening of "Cross Reference: Hans +Gieves"!

 

"cross reference:

In a catalog or index, a direction that leads a user from one entry or subject heading to another"

 

Hey folks, hope you are all well and perhaps sprawled out on some green patch of earth soaking in the spring sun and fun. I, ahem, am not hanging out in a park/backyard/patio today because I am here at work (duh) but it is totally cool because I get to look at "Cross Reference: Hans + Gieves" all day and look up fun library terms like the one above. I am cool. What is this "Cross Reference: Hans + Gieves" thing I mentioned? Well, it just so happens to be our newest exhibition here at Like the Spice Gallery; this show features the collaborative work of Nashville-based painter Hans Schmitt-Matzen and Brooklyn-based photographer Gieves Anderson. This particular series of works began in libraries, which the two artists consider sanctuaries of thought. Duly titled "Cross Reference", the series enables a philosophical contemplation of color and composition through an alchemy of the disparate mediums of photography and painting. Nice right? Read the official press release here.

So, last night was the opening reception for "Cross Reference" and it was really quite awesome (see photographic evidence below).

See? Look at all those people having a rad time surrounded by rad work. The work is seriously gorgeous, people. Each piece is so unique and as one approaches and really sees the intricate textures of the oil paint atop the poetic scenes captured in the c-prints the whole thing becomes even more powerful. COME AND SEE THEM!

Oh look, even more people enjoying themselves and the work of Hans + Gieves! How nice! We had a great turnout as you can tell, a really wonderful Friday night with great weather. Both of the artists were in attendance and were lovely and welcoming co-hosts of the reception. They will also both be joining us again for the Dewey Decimal Dinner next Friday, April 27th at 8:00 (RSVP only). If you cannot make it to the dinner (what a bummer) please do come by and check out this fantastic show! "Cross Reference: Hans + Gieves" will be up until May 27th, that is plenty of time for you all to get your butts off that green patch in whatever park/backyard/patio you are lounging in and visit Like the Spice!

 

 

In the words of Brenda Lee, I'm sorry...So sorry..

Dear All Lovers of Like the Spice & http://likethespice.blogspot.com/,

We apologize from the bottom of our hearts for the lack of blog coverage of Arts Not Fair on http://likethespice.blogspot.com/. It seems that while maintaining a gallery website, and an "art fair" website, we here at Like the Spice Gallery neglected to update our very important gallery blog... for this we are truly sorry. We will never again be so forgetful. For now, accept our most sincerest apologies and please follow all the links to read about our latest project Arts Not Fair, then read all of the great press coverage we have received. Also, check out our Facebook page for opening images, as well as booth imagery. We promise we will have a proper wrap up of the show before the closing date, which by the way has been extended through Thursday, April 5th 2012.
Last but not least in this apology, please also read the new press release for our upcoming exhibition Cross-Reference: Hans + Gieves , a collaborative of Nashville-based painter Hans Schmitt-Matzen and Brooklyn-based photographer Gieves Anderson. We hope you will accept our apology and join us for the opening of Cross- Reference on April 20th, 2012 6:30- 9:00pm.

Love,
Like the Spice

Sutured Dinner

This past Friday, February 24th, Like the Spice Gallery had our monthly Artist Dinner. Catered by The Starving Artist Bakery, we enjoyed a phenomenal meal and great conversations with Joseph Heidecker, Robert Raphael, Vadis Turner, Richard Saja, and Zoe Sheehan Saldana, all of whom discuss the specific works on display in our February show, Sutured. The intimate meal had Saldana discussing the weaving practice she employed in her work "TEKLA", a piece that she later 'shop dropped' back onto the shelves of IKEA. Heidecker shared the different processes he uses when choosing which pieces he decides to work with. Raphael told us about his destructive yet contained ceramic process he created to produce 'Vertical Garden' and 'Folly.'

Sutured has had a great run, as we prepare for Arts Not Fair which opens the weekend of Armory March 9th - March 11th. Come back on March 9th as we turn Like the Spice Gallery into Arts Not Fair, our personal take on art fairs, with original work from Like the Spice artists Chino Amobi, Brian LaRossa, Allie Rex, Nicki Stager, Eric LoPresti, Jenny Morgan, Reuben Negron, Hans + Gieves, Matt Stone, and new comers Kim Holleman, Sylva Dean and Me, and more.

Fundraiser for Arts Not Fair

Like the Spice will be putting on a fundraiser this Wednesday from 7 PM- 9 PM. For more information and an invite to this event contact marisa@likethespice.com.

Arts Not Fair

Arts Not Fair: A Like the Spice

Gallery Art Fair. A special project created by Like the Spice will transform Like the Spice Gallery (224 Roebling Street

Brooklyn, NY), into a month long "art fair" highlighting special projects by the Like the Spice Gallery artists,

including Chino Amobi, Jenny Morgan, Hans + Gieves, and more.

"Arts Not Fair" will become the most important art event in New

York, taking place no where near Piers 92 & 94 in Manhattan. Like the Spice is re-establishing itself

as the most adventurous and dynamic contemporary art fair in New York City". (Line appropriated

from The Armory Show website)

This year, thousands of people will be hitting the art fairs. What do you do at art fairs? Try to steal a pass,

struggle to find the lounge, squeeze into the V.I.P. room and maybe, maybe manage to find a couple pieces

of art that don't make you want to roll your eyes. And then it's off to the after-party for handshakes and fun

and it's all forgotten until Miami. Doesn't it leave you wanting something a little more intimate? Something

different?

At last a fair that is a piece itself, "Arts Not Fair" has the badges, we've got the lounge, we'll even be

boasting the world's best V.I.P. room (no need to bribe the bouncer). Inside and outside the walls of

Like the Spice artists will present new projects as installation-based pieces created just for this

show. You'll be able to view each booth at a pace YOU set, not by being ordered around by some invisible

committee. The first twenty thousand guests will even be given a very special map of the exhibits, printed

out by our special guest, the Like the Spice HP Color Printer! Ticket prices are set at the cost of printing,

and press passes will be available for anyone who knows how to use Wordpress.

Come March 11th, those other art fairs will have packed up and left town but Like the Spice will still be

going strong, giving you a peak at what happens after the party ends when all that's left are white walls, flat

champagne, and unsold art. "Arts Not Fair" will ask the viewer to question what is a gallery? What is an art

fair? As viewers do we want to see or be seen? is ART FAIR?

Press Preview: Friday March 9th, 2012 4:00pm – 6:00pm

VIP Preview, benefiting the Arts Not Fair foundation: Friday March 9th, 2012 6:00-9:00pm

Opening reception: Saturday March 10th, 6-10pm with special performances, and panels during

Williamsburg Armory Night.

Regular Show hours: Saturday March 10th, 12-7pm.
Sunday March 11th, 2012 hours 12 – 7pm

After the show extend viewing exhibition – April 1st, 2012. (Normal Gallery Hours)

Sutured Opening

This past Friday we had an exciting opening for our newest exhibition, "Sutured." Featuring the work of Adam Parker Smith, Jude Broughan, Joseph Heidecker, Richard Saja, Robert Raphael, Vadis Turner, and Zoe Sheehan Saldana, seven artists whose work bears, and yet also exploits, the cultural norm associated with textiles and other craft materials.

Even if you missed the opening, it is not too late to see all the great works at Like the Spice from now through February 24th.

Here is a look at some of the pieces in Sutured:

Vladis Turner

"Red Candy and Black Mold"

Acrylic, Paint, Ribbon, Clothing, Quilts, Gloves, Mixed Media

60 x 66 x 6"

2011

Richard Saja

"Green Man"

Mixed Media

19x19"

2011

Robert Raphael

"Vertical Garden"

Mixed Media

72 x 8 x 3"

2009

Joseph Heidecker

"Silver Statue"

Found wood form, Steel Pins, String

16 x 4"

2010

Robert Raphael

"Mold Nest"

Acrylic paint, Clothing, Ribbon, Yarn wool, Jump rope, Mixed Media

20 x 14 x 9"

2011

Robert Raphael

"Folly"

Enamel paint, Satin ribbon, Porcelain

74 x 5 x 5"

2011

Adam Parker Smith

"Proposal"

3,000 hand-woven bracelets

8 x 8.5'

2012

Jude Broghan

"Tan Nasturtiums"

C-print, Leather, Plastic lighting gel, Plastic, Thread

15 x 21"

2011

Jude Broughan

"Peeling"

Photograph, Leather, Thread

18 x 24"

2011

Jude Broughan

"Black Composition"

C-print, Polaroid, Plastic, Leather, Acrylic, Paint, Thread

24 x 17"

2011

Richard Saja

"Has Anyone Seen My Lighter?"

24 x 24"

2011