The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
The doors are open and the 2015 edition of The Armory Show in New York is underway, kicking off the first major fair week in NY this spring.  Collectors and artists wound throughout the booths, perusing the works on sale and chatting with dealers.  Director George Lucas could be seen examining several works, as was Maurizio Cattelan, both of whom seem to be enjoying their respective retirements.
Alan Vega ‘In Prison’, Rouge (2014), Galerie Laurent Gaudin, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Michael Müller, Workshop (2014), Aanant & Zoo and Galerie Thomas Schulte, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Mona Hatoum, Turbulence (black) (2014), Alexander and Bonin, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Trimming the gallery list to below 200 dealers, the fair this year feels particularly streamlined. Given the number of fairs taking place this month around the globe this month, galleries seem more willing to experiment, showing more curated and solo booths. In fact, nearly 40 galleries this year are presenting solo booths, a considerable percentage that includes an impressive, minimal Mona Hatoum floor piece at Alexander and Bonin (also part of the fair’s Focus) section, and a dynamic exhibition of works by Daniel Buren at Kamel Mennour, combining the artist’s recent materialist variations on his classic striped works with an impressively large-scale work at the center of the gallery booth.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, A Convention of Tiny Movements (2015), Commissioned Artist, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Gabriel de la Mora, 37,250 from the series Cerillos Cancelados (2014), 1,490 used sides of 745 match boxes from 37,250 burnt matches on cardboard, Siccardi Gallery, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Alfredo Jaar, Six Seconds (2000), Galerie Lelong, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
This year’s artist commissions, chief among them artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan were less immediately noticeable on the fairgrounds.  A number of works, including Hamdan’s specially designed potato chip bags, made much of their own discretion, spread across the fair without taking up too much real estate, and emphasizing subtle imbalances of power and movement throughout Pier 94.  Placed on seats, benches and bar tops, each bag bears a text noting its own capabilities as a recording device, referencing developments at MIT where scientists have developed listening technologies based on an object’s surface structure and microscopic vibrations.  Considering this backdrop, the innocuous crinkling of each bag took on a more sinister note of surveillance.
Bjarne Melgaard, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Other highlights of the fair included a series of irreverent works referencing mass marketing and the art historical as touchstones in what came off as elaborate visual jokes.  In one booth, Ryan Gander was presenting a winking take on Donald Judd’s iconic Stacks form, re-creating the artist’s architectural minimalism with a set of sawed-open IKEA shelves, adding an additional punch by placing a potted fern at the top of the work.  Several booths down at Los Angeles Gallery Cherry and Martin, artist Nathan Mabry was showing a meticulous recreation of a Mark di Suvero sculpture, which served as a resting perch for several pigeons painted in the same iconically bold red as the latter artist’s countless public works.
Georg Baselitz, Bitte hinter den Kopf (2014), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Kader Attia, Modern Architecture Genealogy (2014), Lehmann Maupin, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Camille Henrot seems to be enjoying something of a moment in 2015.  The Silver Lion winner at last year’s Biennale had works on view in a number of booths throughout the fair, including several works at Metro Pictures, her U.S. Gallery.  Lehmann Maupin had one of the stronger booths on show, including a series of cutting works by Kader Attia, as did Thaddaeus Ropac, where a slurred, hyperactive pair of works by Bjarne Melgaard attracted major attention from passerby.  The gallery had yet to sell the works by the end of the first day, but sold a Jules de Balincourt work for $175,000.
Camille Henrot, Self Organizing (2014), Johann König, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Sean Kelly also had a strong opening day on Pier 94, selling a Kehinde Wiley piece for $125,000, as well as an Antony Gormley sculpture for upwards of $650,000, as did Lisson, selling an immense, triangular Dan Graham that sat the front of their booth, bringing in $350,000.  Similarly, David Zwirner’s large double booth at the immediate front of the fair proved the adage “location is everything” yet again, as the gallery saw markedly strong sales, moving works by Carol Bove, Karla Black Wolfgang Tillmans, and a number of reserves from Thomas Ruff and James Welling within the opening hours.
Continuing through Sunday, the fair is anticipated to achieve consistently strong sales, and a visitor count topping 65,000 over the next four days.
Jeppe Hein, YOU ARE SPECIAL (2014), Johann König, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Alicja Kwade, Figure (2014), Johann König, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Clearing, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Clearing, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Eddie Martinez, Untitled (2013), Kohn Gallery, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Francis Alys, TRF, Helmand province (2013), Galerie Peter Kilchmann, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Laure Prouvost, IDEALLY HERE THE ROOM WOULD BE SUPER MODERN WITH SHARP ANGLES FULL OF MIRRORS AND WINDOWS (2014), Galerie Nathalie Obadia, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Thomas Scheiblitz, Index (2009-2010), Produzentengalerie Hamburg, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Jenny Holzer, Splash 7, U.S. government document (2013-14), Sprüth Magers, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Mounir Fatmi, Technologia (2010), EOA. Projects London, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Michael Part, Galerie Andreas Huber, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Chris Wiley, Nicelle Beauchene, The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
— D. Creahan
Read More:
The 17th Armory Show, New as Ever [NYT]
Armory takes steps in the right direction [Art Newspaper]
2015 Armory Show fair puts focus on Middle Eastern artists [Washington Post]
The Armory Show Contemporary Opens With a Flurry of Sales [Art Info]
Early Sales at the Armory Show [Art News]
