The Armory Show opens today to the public, bringing international contemporary and modern art to Piers 92 and 94 along the Hudson River. As you trudge from the nearest subway, be sure to size up a new Maserati at the nearby dealer, or gaze upward to Bjarke Ingel’s luxurious tetrahedron, still under construction.
Folkert de Jong sculpture at James Cohan Gallery
For that class of consumers, and the people who love them, the Armory Show is one of the most important annual art events in New York, a rite of spring-to-be. If you can somehow swing the $45 ticket ($30 for students), then visiting is an enjoyable opportunity to see the global art market in action and under one roof (er, two).
Jim Shaw painting detail at Metro Pictures
This year’s Armory Show steps up its partnership with Artsy. On Artsy’s iPhone app, users can view artworks, contact galleries, and navigate the fair. Artsy’s Armory website, updates each day and The Digital Daily briefing will be available to users. Through Instagram, Artsy will disseminate and display Armory Show photos on freestanding digital screens, and Armory and Artsy will co-host a meetup for Instagrammas and grampas. (Will there also be a Grindr meetup?)
Predictably, most of the art includes painting and sculpture, but look for many 3D printed/sourced sculptures, Frankensteinian assemblage by Alan Vega at Galerie Laurent Godin, snappy abstract paintings by Cary White at Fredericks & Freiser, a briar patch of ceramics by Jessica Jackson Hutchins at Marianne Boesky, New Orleans denizens in photos by George Dureau, and a conceptual, collaborative installation by Michael Müller and Vlado Martek exhibited jointly by Aanant & Zoo and Galerie Thomas Schulte. See photos here and on our Instagram.