After a long, hot summer, New York is back in full swing. As the U.S. Open reaches its knockout stages in Flushing Meadows and New York Fashion Week hits runways across town, The Armory Show is celebrating its 30th anniversary at the Javits Center. On September 5th in Hudson Yards, New Yorkers and international guests alike swarmed the fair’s VIP day on a near-perfect sunny day.
“We’re New York’s fair,” said Kyla McMillan, The Armory Show’s newly appointed director, who took up the helm in June. “I’ve been very energized by the amount of key people from key regions around the U.S. and even North America at large who are here. They know that September is the start of the art world calendar, and it’s a great time to be in New York.” Indeed, The Armory Show opens during the week the art world returns to its “school year,” during which the third edition of Frieze Seoul and The Korean International Art Fair are also taking place in the South Korean capital.
This year’s Armory Show features more than 235 galleries and represents both an anniversary and a critical juncture in the fair’s history. This edition is the first under the full ownership of Frieze and the directorship of McMillan. The fair has introduced substantial changes, including a completely redesigned floor plan as well as a redesigned theater as part of Armory Live, which features public conversations.
“Of course, we’re at a moment where people are reconsidering fairs, but The Armory Show has always been a fair for discovery,” said McMillan. “That’s not an empty statement. There are so many people in the industry, collectors that cite The Armory Show as the first art fair they had ever been to, and so we look at it as a really strong foundation, and it will continue to build on that.”
This sense of discovery is particularly evident across the Solo section, devoted to intimate one-person presentations. Other key parts of the fair include the Focus section, which explores avant-garde art curated by Robyn Farrell, and the Presents section, which spotlights galleries that have operated for less than a decade. “We’ve signed up for an industry in flux, but what we can do as a fair is help kind of lay some of those foundations, and with our Presents section, we’ve had incredible success stories,” said McMillan.
This year, the centerpiece of the fair is the Platform section, curated by Eugenie Tsai and prominently located at the heart of the Javits Center. It features 12 installations that deal directly with rethinking narratives in art history. For instance, Joana Vasconcelos’s giant fabric sculpture, adorned with LED lights and handmade crochet, was first made to spark conversation between high fashion and domestic craft often associated with women.
Apse, 1980-1984
Robert Motherwell
Kasmin
The Singer Tract, 2023
Walton Ford
Kasmin
Two major reported sales by Kasmin led the VIP day: Robert Motherwell’s Apse (1980–84) for $825,000 and Walton Ford’s The Singer Tract (2023) for $750,000.
Other notable sales included the following:
- Tang Contemporary Art reported the sale of an Ai Weiwei bronze casting for $450,000.
- Michael Kohn Gallery sold two oil paintings by Nir Hod for $140,000 and $95,000 each.
- Nature Morte placed an oil painting by Tanya Goel, which sold for a price between $100,000 and $120,000.
- Eric Firestone Gallery sold two oil paintings by Paul Waters for $50,000 and $100,000.
Check back on Monday for our roundup of reported sales from the fair. Here, we share the 10 best booths from The Armory Show.
DAG
Booth 105
With works by Natvar Bhavsar
Even at 90, New York–based Indian American artist Natvar Bhavsar continues to create his celestial abstract paintings without ever touching a paintbrush. New Delhi–based DAG is showcasing more than 20 of these works by the artist, spanning five decades of Bhavsar’s already storied career, in a bid to further canonize his extensive body of work.
“He’s been collected by big collectors, big corporations, and he’s in museum collections, but now the idea is to take him and his practice to the recognition which we truly believe he deserves,” said Ritu Vajpeti Mohan, director of DAG. “This exhibition serves as a stepping stone.”
P-ROO, 1973
Natvar Bhavsar
DAG
URVASEE, 1992
Natvar Bhavsar
DAG
MITHUNA VI, 1991
Natvar Bhavsar
DAG
Each painting, evoking the vastness of the Milky Way galaxy and the universe, is meticulously crafted over long periods, occasionally requiring more than six months to complete. Bhavsar employs a process where he forgoes the paintbrush and instead opts for a technique of sieving dry, organically sourced pigments and securing them with binding agents. Through the movement of his body and breath, the artist controls the layer of colors, which can exceed 80 layers on a single canvas. This creates granular color splatters that the artist refers to as “stardust.”
The pieces, generating “fantastic interest” among collectors during the VIP day, according to Mohan, are priced between $38,000 and $375,000. The most expensive work is Bhavsar’s oldest artwork in the booth, a radiant Color Field painting titled P-ROO (1973).
Carvalho Park
Booth P17
With works by Rachel Mica Weiss
Brooklyn’s Carvalho Park makes a standout debut at The Armory Show with a presentation of stone sculptures by Rachel Mica Weiss. The booth features three massive hanging sculptures made from hand-carved alabaster chainmail. These ethereal, armor-like sculptures, all three from the artist’s “Protector” series, are accompanied by two hand-carved marble chainlink “necklaces,” complete with marble locks and keys. Taken together, the artwork evokes the struggles between protection and vulnerability.
Weiss’s technique involves cutting alabaster or marble into rings, meticulously shaping them through extensive sanding, from coarse 40 grit to the finest quadruple zero steel wool. The forms, often figural, begin as tracings of her body on glassine, resembling sewing patterns. “It’s like a marionette, so when I pull this chain, then the whole thing shifts, balancing this network,” Weiss explained, drawing parallels to medieval chainmail’s dual function as both armor and cumbersome barrier.
Protector III (Hood), 2024
Rachel Mica Weiss
Carvalho Park
How Do You Choose?, 2024
Rachel Mica Weiss
Carvalho Park
In Time III, 2024
Rachel Mica Weiss
Carvalho Park
Protector I (Sarcophagus), 2024
Rachel Mica Weiss
Carvalho Park
“The Armory Show attracts a caliber of collector and institutional interest that I feel is important for sculpture,” said founder Jennifer Carvalho, who noted that the gallery’s earliest interactions at the fair included several institutional curators. Arguably, the most ambitious work in the booth is In Time III (2024), a striking marble “meteor” priced at the top of the range. This piece features two motorized, spinning spheres affixed to its base. The sculptures are priced between $20,000 and $70,000.
1969 Gallery
Booth P33
With works by María Fragosa Jara
Each of Artsy Vanguard 2021 alum María Fragosa Jara’s paintings at 1969 Gallery’s solo booth feel vehemently alive. In Coppélia (all works 2024), a figure stands smoking against a backdrop of ominous black birds over a green body of water. Leal, meanwhile, captures white birds fluttering behind a portrait of the artist’s partner, focusing more intimately on the subjects themselves than ever before. These crimson canvases, hung on a red wall in the gallery’s booth, are intricately ornamented with symbols that enhance the emotive depth of each scene.
“In earlier paintings, María was always taking friends and family and turning them into mythical creatures, mermaids, and figures,” said Quang Bao, director of the Tribeca-based gallery. “In these paintings, the figures are real both in life and also in the paintings. You believe in the specificity and individuality of Leal and portraiture with those specific individual details. She adds [these small symbols] based on found objects and things that are visually arresting to her.”
Amuleto de un pájaro retorcido, 2024
María Fragoso Jara
1969 Gallery
Leal, 2024
María Fragoso Jara
1969 Gallery
Carlos y Pablo, agua y espuma, 2024
María Fragoso Jara
1969 Gallery
Ex voto (ruptura), 2024
María Fragoso Jara
1969 Gallery
Surreal symbolism threads through her works, connecting scenes with recurring motifs such as the coiled bird amulet featured in both Amuleto de un pájaro retorcido and Leal, as well as the braided hair, which appears across various pieces. These symbols are articulated clearly with red colored pencils in her works on paper, ranging from $3,200 to $5,800.
Prices for Jara’s paintings start at $24,000, with Leal at $26,700 and the largest work, Carlos y Pablo, agua y espuma, at $33,800.
Cob
Booth S5
With works by Tomo Campbell
Nestled in the farthest corner of the Solo section, London gallery Cob adorned its booth with a green-toned Moiré silk. This viridescent backdrop frames British painter Tomo Campbell’s latest series of seven large-scale oil paintings. Hung edge-to-edge, the canvases create a seamless visual field where each painting appears to blend into the next, drawing heavily from historical tapestries and Rococo aesthetics that create a sense of luxurious excess.
The centerpiece is Well I Never (2024), a dreamlike scene composed of radical pastel tones of pink, blue, yellow, and green. In it, figures of horses, dogs, and people populate the crowded canvas. This work—and the accompanying six paintings—are a direct reference to the “Unicorn Tapestries” at the Met Cloisters in New York, the late Middle Ages textiles depicting noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a white unicorn. Similarly, Campbell portrays the unicorn evading swells of abstracted figures in some of these color-soaked works.
Promise, 2024
Tomo Campbell
Cob
For Ages, 2024
Tomo Campbell
Cob
As If To Say, 2024
Tomo Campbell
Cob
If You Don't Mind, 2024
Tomo Campbell
Cob
“Because of the ‘Unicorn Tapestries’ in the Cloisters, which were made of silk, wool, and silver thread, we wanted to clad the booth in silk, directly referencing the tapestry elements in his work and nodding to the splendor of a stately home where such grand paintings might exist,” said Cassie Beadle, the gallery’s co-founder. Beadle also noted that each work is unified by recurring symbols, such as the artist’s signature tree, which populates the pieces, such as Under the Sun (2024). “Each work kind of moves it like it’s referencing the last one made,” she added.
Larger pieces at the booth are priced at £30,000 ($39,500), while the smaller individual panels are offered at £17,500 ($23,000). The gallery reported that seven pieces had sold out by the end of the fair’s VIP day.
Pierogi
Booth F14
With works by David Scher and Ward Shelley
A glass-encased bookshelf filled with David Scher’s sketchbooks towers in the heart of Pierogi’s Focus presentation. Scher’s notebooks, densely filled with detailed sketches and notes, provide a personal glimpse into the creative process and historical references that influence the American artist’s work. Complementing these are Ward Shelley’s diagrams, which meticulously chart the evolution and interconnections within avant-garde movements. His piece Who Invented the Avant Garde Redux (2020) depicts a visual history of the avant-garde through intricate and surreal mappings.
“In Ward’s work, he’s tracing a history, literally, by graphing it and drawing it out, and David’s work is a history of his own personal history of his work,” explained Joe Amrhein, director of Pierogi, which is based in Brooklyn. Like the collection of notebooks, Scher’s accompanying paintings, such as the landscape Malmousque (2024), are incredibly busy, with layers of figures, colors, and forms engaging in multiple directions of movement. These arresting works are challenging to traverse, as the densely packed imagery makes it hard to parse out exactly what’s happening.
Who Invented the Avant Garde Redux, 2020
Ward Shelley
Pierogi
Malmousque, 2024
David Scher
Pierogi
Blowing Smoke (Maciunas's Learning Machine), 2024
Ward Shelley
Pierogi
Desk with Fruit, 2020
David Scher
Pierogi
Scher’s works, ranging from detailed sketchbooks and works on paper to large paintings, are priced between $1,000 and $28,000. Meanwhile, Shelley’s detailed charts are offered at prices ranging from $7,500 to $18,000. “We did sell work already, and while that’s an important aspect of being at a fair, it’s not the total experience,” noted Amrhein. “We’ve had great interactions with a lot of different people, and that’s the fun part.”
Spinello Projects
Booth S9
With works by Esaí Alfredo
Miami gallery Spinello Projects returns to the Javits Center with a solo booth showcasing Puerto Rican painter Esaí Alfredo—the artist’s New York fair debut. At just 27, Alfredo creates enchanting works with blue-toned landscapes and narrative-driven figurations, drawing from cinematic influences such as Titanic and The Wizard of Oz.
In La Canción / The Song (2024), for instance, Alfredo casts a striking visual homage to Julie Andrews’s iconic pose from The Sound of Music. Instead of a verdant meadow, Alfredo’s subject stands against a backdrop of dark, imposing mountains, adding a brooding intensity to the composition. Another standout, El Camino Carmesí / The Crimson Path (2024), reimagines the iconic yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz in vivid red, symbolizing a journey of self-discovery. “These cinematic moments, there’s always this sense of suspense or what’s to come or what’s going to happen,” said gallery founder Anthony Spinello.
La Canción / The Song, 2024
Esaí Alfredo
Spinello Projects
¿Vienes, Verdad? / You Are Coming, Right?, 2024
Esaí Alfredo
Spinello Projects
El Patinador Nocturno / The Nocturnal Skater, 2024
Esaí Alfredo
Spinello Projects
Lo Que Vi Desde El Barco / What I Saw From The Ship, 2024
Esaí Alfredo
Spinello Projects
Spinello Projects sold out its booth, placing works with buyers including the Hort Family Foundation, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and the Jasketa Foundation. The paintings ranged in price from $9,000 to $35,000.
ACA Galleries
Booth 121
With works by Kandy G Lopez
New York stalwart ACA Galleries presents a solo booth of nine large-scale fiber works by Afro-Caribbean American artist Kandy G Lopez. Inside the booth, eight of the works, each standing approximately eight feet tall, portray eight distinct individuals from the artist’s community. These striking portraits use a medley of textiles, from yarn to repurposed clothing, all meticulously painted with acrylic. The artworks resonate with a vibrant celebration of fashion and community as vignettes of people whom the artist associates with home.
“The works in the booth are people who I admire and within my community,” Lopez shared. “They are everyday people who have swagger.
Tayina & Jordan, 2023
Kandy G Lopez
ACA Galleries
Aunree, 2024
Kandy G Lopez
ACA Galleries
Jade I, 2023
Kandy G Lopez
ACA Galleries
Miyako, 2024
Kandy G Lopez
ACA Galleries
On the booth’s exterior, the largest work, Tayina & Jordan (2023), depicts two individuals standing confidently on a city block. This piece is created from source images taken from a low angle, which imbues the subjects with a heroic quality, challenging traditional portraiture and emphasizing the strength and agency of her muses.
By the end of VIP day, the gallery reported brisk sales, with three of the eight portraits selling for prices between $35,000 and $45,000. Tayina & Jordan, priced at $90,000, has already been put on hold by a museum. “Kandy is such a star,” said the gallery’s managing director, Casey Bergen. “She’s our newest contemporary artist, and this series, her paintings in fiber, have received an overwhelmingly positive response.”
Hales Gallery
Booth 313
With works by Jordan Ann Craig
The Space Between The Clouds and the Horizon, 2024
Jordan Ann Craig
Hales Gallery
Sharp Tongue; Working on Empathy, 2024
Jordan Ann Craig
Hales Gallery
Amid a sea of group exhibitions in the main galleries sector, Hales Gallery’s dedicated showcase to Cheyenne painter Jordan Ann Craig offers a refreshing focus. This suite of paintings delves into two pivotal series that embody the rich traditions of Northern Cheyenne art, brought to life through Craig’s contemporary lens.
In the works featured in the booth, Craig explores two distinct styles: the precision of gridlike patterns and the bold dynamics of triangular forms. When The Sea Calms Down (all works 2024), for instance, draws from the gridlike patterns of traditional quillwork, where the quills of porcupines were lined up in textiles. Meanwhile, her “Sharp Tongue” series, including Sharp Tongue; Working on Empathy, references the triangular patterns in some Indigenous beadwork patterns.
The standout piece is a diptych titled The Space Between The Clouds and the Horizon, which intertwines the two styles. This painting features red grids intersected by four ivory pyramids on each panel. “This is the largest, most complex piece in the booth and is in this quillwork style—intensely layered with painterly techniques…building layer-on-layer to get all of this variation and color,” said the gallery’s director Matea Fish.
Though the London-based gallery did not disclose the prices for the works, it confirmed that several pieces had been acquired by both museums and private collections.
Two Palms
Booth 219
With works by Tschabalala Self
A pyramid of canned Goya beans, a giant 7-Up bottle on display, and a wall adorned with household brands like Tide, Clorox, and Scott transform Tschabalala Self’s booth with Two Palms into an immersive New York City bodega. This ambitious presentation, two years in the making, builds upon her renowned 2017 “Bodega Run” collages. Now, Self makes these explorations tangible with sculptures such as Goya Pyramid (2024), featuring 20 cast and pigmented paper sculptures, and wall works like La Morena and La Negra (2023), which depict grocery items (including canned peppers and a beer) against a blue backdrop.
“She was placing the figures in the context of the bodega and using the institution of the bodega—a New York institution predominantly found in Black and Brown neighborhoods—as a way to explore those figures that were featured in her work, but also to explore different ideas about community, about neighborhoods, about socioeconomics,” said Alexandria Slattery, the sales director at Two Palms.
Goya Pyramid, 2024
Tschabalala Self
Two Palms
Tide, Bleach and 7-Up, 2023
Tschabalala Self
Two Palms
La Morena and La Negra, 2023
Tschabalala Self
Two Palms
Bodega Customer with Neck Tattoo in Blue, 2024
Tschabalala Self
Two Palms
Adding a personal touch, four portraits, including Bodega Customer with Braids and Hoops in Orange (2024), priced at $125,000, incorporate colored pencil, acrylic paint, gouache, and silkscreen on paper, enriching the exhibition’s human narrative.
Pricing for these works “runs the gamut,” according to Slattery. Small cast paper pieces start at $35,000, rising to $60,000 for the largest; while some small-scale sculptures, like the single cast paper Goya Can (2024), are priced at $5,000. On the internal wall of the booth, there are four silkscreen pieces featuring images such as lottery tickets, candy bars, and Nyquil bottles, each priced at $18,000.
Victoria Miro
Booth 229
With works by Isaac Julien and Yayoi Kusama
From the south entrance, a direct line leads to Victoria Miro’s exhibition of Isaac Julien’s film Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022). This two-screen installation, starring André Holland and Danny Huston, depicts the complex relationship between Dr. Albert C. Barnes, an early American collector of African objects, and the writer Alain LeRoy Locke, widely heralded as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance.”
This installation critically explores the often-overlooked influence of African artifacts in Western art collections, merging poetic narrative with historical documentation drawn from Julien’s extensive research in the Barnes Foundation archives. “We are revisiting the canon and looking at different influences, where it’s not just looking at it from a Western perspective,” said Glenn Scott Wright, the gallery’s director. By the early afternoon of the VIP preview, five of the work’s six editions had already sold.
Black Apollo (Once Again... Statues Never Die), 2022
Isaac Julien
Victoria Miro
“It was really about trying to give Isaac Julien a solo presentation because he had this amazing retrospective at Tate [Britain] last year, which traveled in Europe; he has two presentations of his work up at MoMA right now; and he was just in the Whitney Biennial with another version of this work, Statues Never Die,” said Wright, noting the installation’s evolution since its five-screen debut at the Barnes Foundation in September 2022.
This video is accompanied by several photo works, including Diasporic Dream Space Diptych (Once Again... Statues Never Die) (2022), on view in the U.S. for the first time. This features two formally dressed men standing solemnly with their eyes closed in the snow.
Meanwhile, the booth also features a cabinet showcasing two new, unseen paintings by Yayoi Kusama, ahead of the artist’s much anticipated solo show at the London gallery later this month. Additionally, the gallery is presenting one older silkscreen by the artist, titled Lovers (2005).
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