Whose booth is bangin'? Our booth is bangin'! #6-1-3 at artMRKT Holla!

It's happening people, it's really happening: artMRKT San Francisco is officially underway! The art is beautiful, the convention center is gorgeous (exposed-beam ceiling, whaaaatttttt), and Like the Spice Gallery's booth is bangin'. That's right, I said it, B-A-N-G-I-N'. Unfamiliar with this term I am using? Well, here is the definition according to the folks at urbandictionary.com (yes, they all have PhDs...In swagger):

1.	bangin'	109 up, 16 down
	An adjective used to describe something that is impressive, enjoyable, or just basically good.  While originally used to describe fast, pounding music, it can now be used to describe anything.

See? Originally used to describe a type of music but now we can use it to describe ANYTHING. Can you feel the power?!? Ok, so back to the subject at hand, Like the Spice's booth is straight up bangin'. We have work by Jenny Morgan, Treasure Frey, Hans+Gieves, and Joseph Heidecker.  It's like, Beyonce bangin'. If our booth were a lady she would be all like, "bitch have you SEEN me?!" I'm serious. Check it out (or rather, CHECK IT):

And who, might you ask, is holding all of this down, like a boss? THIS GIRL:



Ladies and Gents, Marisa Sage is keeping it real at artMRKT San Francisco 2012 (please hold your applause until the end of this blog). She has traveled many a mile to present the west coast with some fantastic work and fulfill LTS' destiny to rule coast to coast. As your official satellite correspondent for this spectacular event (and with Matt Lauer as my inspiration) I have taken it upon myself to get all of the best news stories for you people and to be the first to do so. Ok, ok, so I'm not the first to report (obvi, someone else got up WAY earlier than I did on Friday morning to write this), but I still want to give you the inside scoop, especially about the V.I.P opening benefit party. I think the image below pretty much describes it:

Holy heck, Batman! The crowds! People as far as the eye can see! I for one find this image particularly exciting because it gives me a chance to use  the word 'throng,' which is something I do not often get to do. THRONGS OF PEOPLE! Look at it! So cool, don't  you just wish you had been there? I know I do. And just look at what a good time they are all having? They love it, they love art you guys! There is no way that you can look at the image below and tell me that the lady in the middle is NOT having a good time. Go ahead, just try and convince me that she's not.

Told you so. That lady is having a FANTASTIC time...In summary, the opening party was highly anticipated and there were no disappointments and Like the Spice's booth was everyone's favorite (again, ask the happy lady).

Ok, so let us review on this year's artMRKT San Francisco...

1. Great location (check, what up Bay Area)
2.  Fantastic boss lady running the booth (check, what up boss) 
3.  Beautiful art (check, what up booth #613)

Welp, looks like we have all the important bases covered. Clearly, my job here is done (can I go home now?)

Art Mrkt:San Francisco Is Here!

Art MRKT opens tomorrow May 17th!  Marisa is currently installing in San Francisco, and we're really excited about art MRKT this year.  It will run through May 20th with hours from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6:00 pm on Sunday.  If you are interested in getting tickets you can email us: info@likethespice.com or go through their website.  We've brought a lot of lovely pieces by a bunch of our artists, including Jenny Morgan, Allie Rex, Joseph Heidecker, Hans + Gieves, Treasure Frey and Reuben Negron, that are definitely worth a peek.    

New work in San Francisco that we are super excited about include the piece above by Allie Rex, as well as other works seen below. 

"Oblivion" by Jenny Morgan

"Portrait 22" by Joseph Heidecker 

"Cross-Reference #4" by Hans + Gieves

This is going to be a really great fair so if you are in the San Francisco area be sure to stop by and check it out!

Jenny Morgan Is Everywhere!

Well maybe not everywhere, but we are incredibly excited that our very own Jenny Morgan is featured in not one but two magazines at the moment!!  Both Working Class Magazine and Maker Magazine made the fantastically wise decision to feature the amazing Ms. Morgan in their fifteenth and first issues respectively. 

In Working Class Magazine's Issue XV: The Girl Issue, Ryan Michael Commins sat down with Jenny Morgan for his article "Confronting the Moment."  In it the two discuss the process Morgan goes through in creating her intimately vulnerable portraits. The Brooklyn-based quarterly mag is available online or for free at local joints like Oslo Coffee, ALTER, Kill Devil Hill, and other boutiques, bookstores, and coffee shops in the neighborhood. So grab your very own copy before they're all gone!

Jenny Morgan's work is also featured in Maker Magazine's Issue #1. The magazine can be purchased through their website, which also provides a two-minute long video tour of the magazine's content set to Talamak's "Toro Y Moi" that was quite enjoyable. 

Inside the magazine is a gorgeous spread of Morgan's work, including "Practice," "Captured," and "Old Soul." 

We could not be more pumped about all this well-deserved attention of Jenny Morgan's work, so do not hesitate to check out both Working Class Magazine and Maker Magazine!! 

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.