Fairs | The Armory Show: Finding Continuity? Perhaps...

Making my way to Pier 94, along the slushy or snow covered pathways of the Hudson waterfront

The 2015 Armory Show appears to offer a more insightful presentation of "art for sale" —which has been historically often overpowered by gimmicky and glitzy exhibits. While walking throughout the "Modern" section in Pier 92 you can find a formal and logical continuity between modern pioneers of non-representational art and the current examples of the "Contemporary" in Pier 94. Optical and kinetic works from Zero, formal minimalism of Sol LeWitt or the sensual geometries of Yuko Nasaka,  seems to find contemporary expressions in Daniel Buren or the many other contemporary artists exploring the intersections between digital fabrications and sculpture making. And Michelangelo Pistoletto's mirrored based work allure to ourselves' images preceding of several decades the "selfies". A few images narrate this Armory 2015 first impressions.

Michelangelo Pistoletto from Repetto Gallery (Londo)

Pier Paolo Calzolari "Senza Titolo" (1943) from Galleria D'Arte Maggiore (Bologna)

Dieter Roth featured at Zucker Art Books

Alexander Calder "The Sphere and the Spirals no. 17" Crane and Kalman Gallery (London)

Daniel Buren (above) and Ivan Navarro from Galerie Daniel Templon (Paris)

Yuko Nasaka featured by Whitestone Gallery (Tokyo)

Heinz Mack Spiral from Beck & Eggeling (Dusseldorf)

Special Project at the Armory Show- Modern: Carlo Massoud "Arab Dolls"

Of particular relevance is the presence of conceptual art in the elegant minimal exhibition of 

• mfc-michèle didier featuring On Kawara and Muntadas.

Pauline Laumond in front of On Kawara "I Got Up",  mfc-michèle didier (Paris)

The 2015 focus also is more connected with the current socio-historical living. For the sixth  year the Armory Show presents a curated section in Pier 94 emphasizing the commercial galleries art of a selected geographic region. This year chosen region is Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean (Acronym MENAM) curated by Omar Kholeif from Whitechapel Gallery in London, in collaboration with Lead Cultural Partner, Edge of Arabia and Education Partner, Art Jameel. Galleries are included together with not-for-profit institutions and site-specific projects.

Armory Focus: MENAM

Armory Week | The Armory Show: the Business of Art

The 2013 Armory Show just opened a few hours in its most recent usual location at Pier 92 and Pier 94.
The Armory show  was founded in 1994 by the late art dealers Colin de Land, Pat Hearn together with Matthew Marks and Paul Morris as the Gramercy International Art Fair, (from its initial location in the Gramercy Park Hotel). The art fair in 1999 moved to the 69th Regiment Armory, from where it took its current name The art fair intent was to bring together worldwide galleries and the name was also an homage to the 1913 exhibition of the same name that also took place in this building, presenting works by avant-garde European artists together with Americans. counterparts. Many different art genres were brought together including legendary names as Vincent van Gogh, Marcel Duchamp and Edward Hopper.
The 2013 Armory Show press conference included Mayor Bloomberg who focused on the economy of the Armory week in term of related revenues brought citywide by this major art event. The mayor delivered statistics about the NYC art world in terms of commercial values. Not surprisingly there was no mention about art as expression of human creativity and the mayor ended his presentation with " A lot of fun and great for the economy"
Only three question were taken at the end of press release, and fortunately I was not able to ask mine. Here it goes:

• Could you please explain the relationship, if any, between business related art events, such as the Armory Week, and public art? 
• And how do these events, have an impact in the city communities which are not part of the art world - thinking of art events such as Christo and Jeanne-Claude 1995 "gates" which were a great examples of art in the city public spaces, seen and enjoyable by everybody, outside the galleries, museums or fairs' white boxes.
• Are the revenues from the Armory Week having an effect on public art development?

Mayor Bloomberg at the Press Conference

The fair’s section "Armory  Focus: USA" curated by Eric Shiner, director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh,was quite predictable. Disappointing and predictable The commissioned project by Liz Magic Laser, was also predictable and disappointing as execution.

Art Fair | NYC, Armory, Pier 94: Body Views

The body is a major presence at Pier 94, especially in new media, between mirrors, performances and silhouettes.

Reflected and Recorded Bodies

Performances: horizontal body in movement

and in stilness

and in movement

Moving bodies makes shapes

or they just go back to the world of minimalistic expressionistic representation

 
 my walking body was sore after a walk of about 12km in an unusually warm weather