A Vegetarian Friendly Animal Dinner!

Friday, January 25th Like the Spice hosted the latest in its monthly dinner series, the Animal Dinner. Mariyam Nayeri catered the event for a great crowd. The food was delectable from the apple and fennel salad to the sea bass with salsa verde and the chestnut honey pear upside down cake.


Adding to the enjoyment of the evening were Allison Edge and Tatiana Kronberg who each talked about their pieces in Deer Art, why they are drawn to animal imagery and why they think so many artists are using animals in their work at the moment.

Capping it all off was Sharita Star who told us about Chinese astrology's use of animal symbolism, made predictions for a few lucky guests and told us about the coming year based on both Chinese and Western astrology.




Pernod, sponsor of our dinner series, was there again pouring delicious cocktails including Absinthe Minded, a crowd favorite. There was even Pernod dessert made by Mariyam...Pernod affogato with espresso!



In the end it was a wonderful and stimulating evening. Join us for a future dinner and you'll see for yourself how truly wonderful these events are.

Ain't No Party Like A Puppet Party.

As a part of January's Williamsburg Every Second, where galleries in the Williamsburg Gallery Association stay open late on the second Friday of the month to host parties and events, Like the Spice was psyched to host the Castle Critters. These fuzzy trouble makers and their ringleader David Marin entertained and informed gallery visitors as they visited Deer Art: Animal Imagery in Contemporary Art. (Show closing February 3rd...don't miss it!)

We learned about puppet performance, showmanship and a little about life. Then the puppets rocked a little to some of their favorites including Lou Reed, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray and The Eagles. Not a bad range for felt and craft fur! Check out the video of some of their performances.

LTS = star

Take a hike
By Daniel Goldberg
for The Brooklyn Paper

A walk through Williamsburg —
“Second Fridays are not just a specific date to bring the art world together,” said Marissa Sage, director of Like The Spice Gallery, “but also something really unique to get a large group out.”
Naomi Village: In the heart of the Poconos

In addition to the jovial atmosphere that a late-night gallery walk fosters, artwork is often unveiled as a treat for “Second Friday” participants; for example, Like the Spice will be showing “Castle Critters” (pictured), a two-hour puppet musical starring artist David Marin’s owls, eels and deer.


Click here to read the whole article.

Hungry Like The Wolf

We stayed up all night and it was totally worth it. Like The Spice's current show, Deer Art, has us all staring like meerkats.



Running from now until February 3rd, Deer Art is a celebration of all things animal, from owls to eels, and some animals that just got thought up.



There's work here to fit everyone's needs and interests. It's the season to think of other people, after all. And the best gift is something they'll love, but never expect.



Also come by after 5pm to see our video tiger. He's pacing the front door! He's kinda hard to photograph but you can see him from the street as soon as it gets dark and it looks amazing. The neighbors keep telling us how much they like him, and we bet you will too.




Don't be scared, nothing will bite! Come visit us and check out this show. We're absolutely rabid about it.



Also be sure to be there on January 11th for the Castle Critters! They're as comfortable in the subway as the New York Times and they've performed in Central Park and at Hollywood parties. You can't wait to see them, you just don't know it yet.

Deer Art!

Deer Art: Animal Imagery in Contemporary Art
December 15th – January 11th 2008
Opening Saturday December 15th 6:30-10:00pm

You’re trapped like a deer in the headlights…you can’t run from the upcoming show at Like the Spice.
We hope it don’t run you down.

Images of animals have been increasingly prevalent in contemporary art recently…you can't spit at an art fair without hitting two deer, a bear and probably a sasquatch. Exploring the urgency animal representations have had recently, this show includes works that explore several different aspects of the relationship between animals and culture.

In some works animals stand in for people, they are vulnerable or ferocious in ways that reveal more about the human condition than about the animals themselves. This is the Disney approach, where animals are used to illuminate character types and traits. An owl becomes a wise old man and a fox is always the trickster. Other works use animal imagery for its psychological associations: totemic symbols for forces of nature, threatening or shamanistic, these animals confront us with their unpredictability and archetypical wildness. The unsettling sight of eels crawling over each other. The horror of confronting a predator in the wilderness. This psychological take is complimented by an approach that recognizes our tenuous and mediated contemporary relationship with nature as commodity, test subject, lifestyle accessory and fashion trope. The first dogs in space. The kitten as makeout voyeur. These ideas of course inform and resist each other and some works borrow aspects of each mode.

In the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog, animals cannot help but be what they are...this show asks whether people are any different or whether animals are really that transparent.

This show includes works by Amy Hill, Thomas Clark, Seth Cohen Cair Crawford, Ondine Crispin Allison Edge, Abby Goodman, Jason Head, Undine Brod, Tatiana Kronberg, Max Liboiron , Eric LoPresti, Johnna MacArthur, Philip Simmons, Chadwick Whitehead, Grace Teng, Rachel Lowther, and Steven Tabbutt.

With a special closing performance Friday January 11th 2008, 7:30-10:00pm by Castle Critters.