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Thursday, March 5, 2015

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 iPier 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