The smallest Armory Show in many years looks at warm countries

 

New York is like a big pond of mud and today, Thursday, the temperature is -6C. We are pretty sure that Omar Kholeif, Curator at Whitechapel Gallery in London and Appointed Curator of Armory Focus – the art fair’s most institutional section – had these brutal weather conditions in mind when he decided to bring the balmy climate of Middle East, North Africa and Mediterranean in the Pier 94, by organizing this year’s Armory Focus initiative, titled as MENAM.

 

As Noah Horowitz, the Executive Director of the Armory Show, announced to the journalists who were recharging their batteries over the Danish pastry catering, “This year’s focus initiative will help shine some light on a thriving part of the contemporary art world which up to date has achieved only limited visibility on the American market”. Without any doubt Omar Kholeif organized a very interesting survey, based on a joint exhibition consisting of galleries’ presentations as well as a series of special projects. The works that were presented by prominent artists from the extended map of middle east, managed to avoid the risk of the eccentric exoticism and were indeed in accordance with the American audiences as well as with the rest of the fair. Two of the participating artists that were standing out were Panos Tsagaris at Kalfayan Galleries – who presented three covers of The New York times depicting images from the Greek riots, covering the text with sheets of gold – and Fayçal Baghriche, from Taymour Grahne Gallery, presenting a light-box of considerable size titled Wenn du ins Feuer guckst.

 

The rest of the fair was all about fascinating booths, with the galleries giving their best shot to impress the fastidious crowd.

 

To start with, Brad Troemel at Zach Feuer Gallery decided to let go of putting alive creatures in boxes and espoused the other emerging art trend, that of mounting objects on panels. In the fair he participated with one work from his show “On View: Selections from the Troemel Collection” currently at Zach Feuer. The Wall Mount For Vintage Furby Collections was already sold out before the fair for 12.000$.

 

Andersen Contemporary from Copenhagen presented again a booth full of intriguing juxtapositions. Simon Dybbroe Møller’s piece consisting of paintings on urinal partitions were a nice take on the historic readymade, being on sale for 10.000$

 

Marianne Boesky Gallery presented among others a massive installation οf thriving glazed ceramics by William J. O’ Brien (prices from $12,000–16,000$). Carl Freedman Gallery chose a similar way to fill the booth, with glazed ceramics by Sebastian Stöhrer.

 

Elsewhere, Koenig&Clinton displayed a pink installation by Lily van der Stokker, Kohn Gallery presented among others one of the most “instagrammable” pieces of the show, Eddie Martinez, Untitled, 2015, a canvas that is part from his new astonishing body of work, as well as the sculpture Untitled, 2013.

 

There was a general interest for new media, described through the presence of monitors depicting moving images – something like desktop screen-savers – in many locations throughout the fair, without receiving the desirable reception.

 

ONE AND J. Gallery from Seoul presented Steady Griffins by artist Taeyoon Kim, available for 8.000$. Rafaël Rozendaal presented his own lenticular paintings – a technique that has been described as offline GIF animations – at Upstream Gallery from Amsterdam for 7500$, while Brian Bress’ recent videos along with the monitor and player were available at Cherry and Martin’s booth for 15.000$ each.

 

Roman gallery Federica Schiavo participated in the fair for the first time showcasing works by Italian artist Andrea Sala. His most interesting work was from the Untitled series available at 6.000$

 

For those who did not carry deep pockets, the Armory Show showed also some very interesting editions, hosted at various booths. Whitechapel gallery chose a variety of new editions in honour of their current exhibition ‘Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915-2015’, oscillating between 145$-3745$. ICA London presented a beautiful and affordable series of limited editions, where Gosha Rubchinskiy’s print was on sale for £110, Bjarne Melgaard’s lithograph (edition of 30) for £1,800.

 

As one can notice, this year there was a surge on accessible price tags, having as a result booming sales and happy crowds. That being said, blue chip galleries were also present, addressing to a more limited audience. Standout works included a delicate sculpture by Karla Black, which sold quickly at David Zwirner, Galerie Eva Presenhuber brought works by Doug Aitken, Ugo Rondinone and Sam Falls among others, and Sprüth Magers presented one the most stunning booths of the fair, showing the amazing work of sculptor Thea Djordjadze.

 

Going upstairs at the Pier 92, one could grab a glass of champagne and wander around the booths of Armory Modern, starting by Frank Stella’s Double Eccentric Squares, at Simon Capstick-Dale Fine Art, and continue to Willem de Kooning’s Roman Painting at Allan Stone Projects, as well as to Squiggly Brushstrokes, by Sol LeWitt at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery.

 

At six in the afternoon the visitor had managed to check the whole fair, since this year marks the Armory Show’s smallest edition in many years, with 199 galleries participating. This ”less for more” initiative can only help the fatigued audience and improve the sales, since going back to a booth that one is interested in, won’t appear like a day-long journey anymore

March 6, 2015