Greetings All! My name is Slater, a senior at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the newest addition (intern/crew person/photographer/garbage collector) to the Like the Spice Gallery team. I am in New York for the summer interning my heart out and it has started off with quite the bang. Seeing Manhattan, Times Square and the streets of Chelsea with 21 year old eyes makes everything look so much different and exciting! One of the highlighting moments so far has been the opening for Marked: A Show of Figure on Friday June 11th, at Like the Spice Gallery, for which I got the opportunity to be photographer of the evening.
The night began with a boom as faithfuls of Like the Spice gallery space poured in, ready to mingle and receive the work presented. With each arrival I grew more and more nervous, this being my first time on the "other side" of the gallery experience. As each guest arrived the energy accumulated and was very quickly streaming from the front doors and down the block, attracting not only the artist community but residents and families from the surrounding neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. With the help and comforting words of Olivia and Roxanne( a fellow intern), my nerves calmed and I began to feel right at home.
The reception was amazing and if you weren't here, you probably wish that you were. As Gallery-goers surrounded the pieces from LTS artists Jenny Morgan and Reuben Negron comments such as, "Remarkable technique" and "beautiful composition" were heard over and over again.
Of course, the crowd was just as taken by the work of Robin Williams, Alison Bickle, Brendon Lott, and Chino Amobi, and all the pieces were getting their share of attention. If you'd like to see them now, head to the special online preview page, but naturally, they're much better in person and definitely worth the visit.
The gallery buzzed from wall to wall as the featured artists were greeted with handshake after handshake. As the night went on, the line between viewer and the viewed blurred, as the pieces and the crowd interacted, coming to dance and breathe with each other as one. Intimacy, narrative, exaggeration and emotions all resonated, fueling an energy that only an opening night at Like the Spice Gallery can provide. It was a great way for me to be introduced to the more structured side of the Art world and all the work that goes into installing, hanging and uninstalling a lot of work simultaneously.
At the end of the night the LTS crew packed up another successful opening. From the perspective of this "Fairly new to the Gallery Scene" artist, I am definitely looking forward to many more to come!
Remember, Marked is open right now, and we can't wait to see you. We also can't wait to have you join us for our latest Monthly Dinner Series event, Figure Ates, on June 25th. Places are limited, so please, RSVP today!
