Next Time She Can Only Drink Maple Syrup

Now, we want to be clear, we absolutely adore Lovely Assistant Leia. She does good work and her blog posts are generally top notch. But obviously she had a little too much sangria during our Friday night artist's dinner. because she seemed to have forgotten all the fun stuff that happened, and just mostly talked about drinking. We admit, we had a bit too much ourselves (after all, talking in third person always makes one thirsty) but let's go over a few of the highlights anyway.



Practically the whole end of the table was full of our artists. Jenny Morgan (in black), David Mramor (at the head), Charlie Leadbetter (in blue), Allison Edge (in white), and Jason Bryant (hiding just out of frame) were on hand to talk about the joy and pain of assisting.



Can't you see that pain in Jenny's eyes? That's a thousand yard art stare! Actually, we're just joking, Jenny Morgan and David Mramor had nothing but good things to say about artist Marilyn Minter, for whom they both work. It was clear that their little family is a close one and that they enjoy their jobs very much.



Another person with nothing but happy stories was Jason Bryant. Jason simply could not give Kehinde Wiley enough respect. It was clear that Jason felt fortunate to have worked with Kehinde and thought of him very highly. Kehinde, do you need a blogger on staff? Because he literally made you sound like the best boss ever!

Around this point, however, the sangria began to kick in. Lovely Assistant Leia wasn't kidding, it was good stuff. So good, in fact, that we forgot to take a photo while Charlie Ledbetter and Allison Edge were talking. To make it up to them, we'll show you some photos of their work instead.




Charlie and Allison both assisted Jeff Koons, who has around a hundred different assistants. These stories were a little darker and not quite as loving, although they made it clear they had a great respect for Jeff as a creator. Allison also talked happily about her time with McDermott & McGough and what she felt she learned there.

Poor tipsy Lovely Assistant Leia was right about the conversation. This exciting discussion about the nature of the assistant in art really made for a fantastic night. There were plenty of disagreements and even some awkward moments we weren't expecting... but that's what art is all about, right? And everyone left happy.



If you weren't there, you missed out! Our next dinner will be Feed on September 25th. It'll feature our buddy Eric LoPresti, as part of his upcoming solo show, Fade, opening September 11th. Plan now to join us then! If you're lucky, we'll remember to charge the camera first. Please excuse these iPhone quality photos. We're so iMbarrassed.

Cracking the case of the mysteriously missing salmon

We had another installment of our monthly dinner series last night, and this one was a peach-sangria dream. I'm still recovering, and I wasn't even at the table till halfway through. What the lovely people who spent the evening in Like the Spice didn't know is that we had caterer chaos the morning, and our usual providers turned prima-donna, leaving us stranded... Salmon-less.

At the very last minute, Curiouso Pizzeria & Ristorante came the rescue with a seriously scrumptious spread of tiny meatballs and crisp salad, decadant eggplant rollatini and lemony chicken. If you haven't been to this awesome new local spot you need to plan a Saturday around it. Not only do they make DELICIOUS pizza and pasta (I'm eating a seafood linguini from them right now and I swear to god it's the only thing helping me survive my sangria hangover) they're run by the nicest guys we could hope to have as neighbors. Also, their website rocks hardcore. We sent them a video of us dancing to the funky background music. I think we should throw a Curioso/Like the Spice block party later in the summer, don't you?

So, we shared pitchers of homemade peach and white wine sangria and had, actually, one of the most stimulating and intense conversations ever to grace our table. With a mix of arts professionals, collectors and artists, we were amazed at the range of ideas and opinions that everyone the wine and camaraderie helped bring out. The matter of the Art Assistant's role in the art world isn't a simple one, and the conversation and debate carried on well past 10pm.



Off the Clock: The Artist Assistant Show is up until September, so make sure you stop in to see it! Remember, for the rest of the summer we're open Wed-Sun 12-7 (And Mondays by appointment). See you soon!

I need a vitamin water.

Summer's Here!

It might feel like autumn, but we looked at the calendar, and it said SUMMERTIME! So that means we're ready for our summer show, Off The Clock, a celebration of the artist's assistant.

Off The Clock is a great chance to get to know some of the artists who have been learning their craft under certain modern masters. In this group show we'll be featuring Jason Bryant (who assists Kehinde Wiley), Allison Edge (who has assisted McDermott & McGough and Jeff Koons), Charlie Ledbetter (also has assisted Jeff Koons), Jenny Morgan and David Mramor (assistants to Marilyn Minter) and Reuben Negrón (who assists Papa Colo).

As you well know, nearly every one of these artists have had a successful solo show here at Like the Spice, so we've been really looking forward to this show. We think you should be doing the same. Opening night is is July 17th, so plan now!

Of course, with every new show comes a new chance to dine. This month's dinner is Assisted Dining. We'll do the hard work, all you'll have to do is finish! A show like this is likely to get some attention, so we want to warn you: make your reservation now! Hit our online reservation page to save your spot. Everyone remembers how much fun our previous dinners were, right? What if we said this was going to be the best dinner yet?