In its 25th anniversary, the historic "The Armory Show" will be held for a four-day exhibition at the piers on the Hudson River in New York from March 7th to 10th.
This year, 198 galleries from 33 countries participated in The Armory Show, and 59 of them participated in the Armory Exhibition for the first time. There are 112 galleries from all over the world on display at the "Galleries" exhibition area, as well as the galleries on the "Insights", "Presents" and "Focus" exhibition area. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Armory Show this year, the organizers once again invited the galleries who participated in its earliest editions at Gramercy Park Hotel including 303 Gallery (New York), Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (New York and Los Angeles), Galerie Krinzinger Gallery (Vienna) and the Zeno X Gallery (Antwerp).
"Focus", the core section of The Armory Show, will be launching the exhibition "Worlds of Tomorrow", which is curated by Sally Tallant, the former Director of Liverpool Biennale and the current Executive Director of the Queens Museum in New York. The exhibition will feature large-scale artworks by 9 renowned artists such as Greek artist Andreas Angelidakis, Iranian-American artist Siah Armajani, Mexican artist Tania Candiani, British artist Ryan Gander, German artist Iris Häussler, American artist Xaviera Simmons, American artist Jessica Stockholder, Mexican artist Super Taus, and African artist Pascale Marthine Tayou.
In addition, the organizers also invited internationally renowned artists, curators, collectors and art practitioners such as ARTnews editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas, curator of Whitney Museum of American Art Elizabeth Sussman, art critic Ben Davis, British artist Ryan Gander, art practitioner Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and gallerist Mitchell Algus hosted a series of Live Talks. The theme of the talks will be based on the 25th anniversary, focusing on the development of art production, experience, criticism and patronage in the past quarter century.
This year, the organizer also established the Gramercy International Prize, which will provide an opportunity for free booths at award-winning galleries every year, encouraging young New York galleries who have never participated in previous armory exhibitions to develop and promote the prospects of New York galleries. The jury members include collectors, independent curators and gallery owners, and Rimiken Gallery was selected as the first Gramercy International Award-winning gallery, which will showcase the works of young New York artists Darja Bajagić and Andra Ursuţa.
Just two weeks before the VIP preview of this year's The Armory Show, the organizer announced that the one of the exhibition venues, 92 Piers was only partially open due to structural defects. It caused the 69 galleries participating in the exhibition to be temporarily notified to move to the farthest 90th Piers. The sister fair "Volta" originally planned for the 90th Piers will be cancelled. The organizer of the fair has announced that there will provide shuttle service for picking up and drop off between the exhibition areas.
The Armory Show, the largest and indicative contemporary art fair in New York, was founded by four New York dealers Colin de Land, Pat Hearn, Matthew Marks and Paul Morris. Founded in 1994, with the mission of promoting the new works of living artists, The Armory Show has become a nexus for the international art world and an important art exhibition for inspiring art dialogue, discovery and patronage in the visual arts. It attracts more than 65,000 visitors every year. The first international art fair was held at the Gramercy Park Hotel and was the prototype of the "hotel-fair".
For expansion purpose, The Armory Show was moved to the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue in New York in 1999, and renamed the "The Armory Show" in New York in 1913 in homage to the Regiment’s legendary exhibition “Armory Show” which held in 1913. It was the first largest modern art exhibition in American history. In 2001, The Armory Show and MoMA in New York announced the establishment of the "Pat Hearn and Colin de Land Acquisition Fund", marking an important chapter for the art fair’s history. The Armory Artist Commission, established in 2002, provides opportunities for living artists to support and expose their works. In 2009, the Armory Exhibition extended the exhibition area to No. 92 and No. 94, and added The Armory Show-Modern to showcase the works of 20th century modern art masters. In 2016, Nicole Berry was appointed Executive Director and continued to contribute to the development and strategy of The Armory Show.
Figure 1：Krishen Khanna, Thou Sayest So/ Interrogation
Figure 2 left top：Carlos Cruz-Die, physichromie No.2175
Figure 2 right top：Octavio Abúndez
Figure 2 left bottom：Eric Croes
Figure 2 right bottom：Manuel Neri, Maki No.1
Photos by YIART
