NEW YORK, NY.- The Armory Show announced the exhibitor list for its 2021 edition, featuring 194 leading international galleries from 38 countries. The fair will take place from September 9-12, 2021 at the state-of-the-art Javits Center – The Armory Show’s new, permanent venue, as announced in March 2020 during last year’s edition.
The fair will offer an enhanced in-person experience for exhibitors, collectors, and New York’s cultural community. For the first time, all exhibitors at The Armory Show will be integrated under one roof. Renowned architects Frederick Fisher and Partners have designed an open floor plan spanning three halls with unobstructed sightlines and spacious lounges. The layout was developed with social distancing and safety for all attendees in mind. In addition to the physical fair, collectors and art enthusiasts will also be able to browse and buy artworks online through a sophisticated, user-friendly digital platform developed in partnership with Artlogic.
Exhibitors returning to The Armory Show include 303 Gallery (New York), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London, Hong Kong), Galerie EIGEN + ART (Berlin, Leipzig), Stephen Friedman Gallery (London), Kasmin (New York), Sean Kelly (New York), Krinzinger (Vienna), Simon Lee Gallery (London, Hong Kong), Victoria Miro (London, Venice), Galeria Nara Roesler (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, New York), Galerie Templon (Paris, Brussels), and Zeno X Gallery (Antwerp).
The 2021 edition will also see the debut of several new exhibitors, including, Alfonso Artiaco (Naples), Galleria Millan (São Paulo), Proyectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala City) – as well as many galleries returning after a hiatus, including Cardi Gallery (Milan, London), Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf), Sadie Coles HQ (London), Anton Kern Gallery (New York), Galerie Nagel Draxler (Cologne, Berlin), Kerlin Gallery (Dublin), Perrotin (Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai), Almine Rech (New York, Paris, Brussels), Meyer Riegger (Berlin, Karlsruhe), and David Zwirner (New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong).
Furthering its commitment to thoughtful presentations, The Armory Show is launching a new section, Solo, which will feature single-artist booths from 12 galleries. These include Adeela Suleman from Aicon Contemporary (New York), Gunnel Wåhlstrand from Andréhn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm), Andrea Joyce Heimer from Half Gallery (New York), Demetrius Oliver from Iman Gallery (Houston), Patrick Martinez from Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles), Viktoria Binschtok from Klemm's (Berlin), Gregory Halpern from Loock Galerie (Berlin), Nancy Holt from Parafin (London), Hugo Crosthwaite from Pierogi (Brooklyn), Sanam Khatibi from P.P.O.W Gallery (New York), Ane Graff from OSL contemporary (Oslo), and Wallen Mapondera from SMAC (Cape Town).
Nicole Berry, Executive Director of The Armory Show, said: “For over 25 years, The Armory Show has been a cornerstone of New York City’s cultural scene and an economic driver for the global art market. We believe NYC will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever, and we’re excited to anchor the fall arts season at this pivotal moment when the city’s cultural organizations are reopening and experiencing art in-person is becoming possible again for everyone. The Armory Show has always been a place for profitable exchange and new discoveries, and the fair’s successful return this fall will signal the resurgence of the cultural sector and serve as a barometer for the art market. We are looking forward to convening the art world once again in September and welcoming the public to a new, state-of-the-art Armory Show experience.”
Frederick Fisher, Founder of Frederick Fisher and Partners, added: "In reimagining The Armory Show’s new and expanded format and home, we aimed to reflect the quintessential identity and energy of New York City, combining the intensity of a dense urban grid with a central elliptical agora that connects the Javits Center’s far corners and encourages serendipitous encounters of discovery and delight.”
Highlighting the best of the international art world
The 2021 edition will feature notable thematic and solo-artist presentations within Galleries, the fair’s core section. Presentation highlights include:
• A selection of works by four Brazilian women artists from Galeria Nara Roesler (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, New York). Artists include Amelia Toledo, Tomie Ohtake, Brigida Baltar, and Cristina Canale.
• A solo booth from Simon Lee (London, Hong Kong) featuring Hong Kong-based artist Chris Huen Sin Kan’s large-scale oil paintings, which are derived from observation of his own life.
• A presentation of six artists who explore social and political issues of the diaspora from Jenkins Johnson Gallery’s (Brooklyn, San Francisco). Artists include Ming Smith, Lisa Corinne Davis, Blessing Ngobeni, Enrico Riley, Ilana Savdie, and Raelis Vasquez.
• A booth dedicated solely to sculptural works, both new and historic, from Stephen Friedman Gallery (London) and conceived by a guest curator.
• A joint presentation from Galerie Lelong & Co. (New York) and Marc Selwyn (New York) of American artist Michelle Stuart, one of the last living land artists, whose work crosses photography, sculpture, and drawings, including works never before exhibited.
• Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf) and Meyer Riegger (Berlin, Karlsruhe)’s collaborative presentation of German artist Peppi Bottrop, focusing on new works developed especially for the fair.
Facilitating new discoveries
The Presents section spotlights emerging galleries no more than fifteen years old showcasing recent work in solo-and-dual artist presentations. Highlights include:
• A solo booth of new paintings and works on paper by nonbinary black artist Brianna Rose Brooks from Deli Gallery (New York).
• Multi-media and three-dimensional paintings focused on the environment and climate by Iranian artist Meghdad Lorpour from Dastan’s Basement (Tehran).
• A dual-artist presentation from PSM Gallery (Berlin) that creates a dialog between Nadira Husain and Mariela Scafati, two artists whose works raise questions of cultural authenticity, appropriation, migration, feminism, and expanded notions of painting and crafts.
• A new series of large-scale paintings by Hayley Barker from SHRINE (New York).
The third Gramercy International Prize recipient is HOUSING (New York), who will show Allana Clarke and Nathaniel Oliver. The esteemed jury for the prize included Stefano Basilico, Collector and Advisor; Nicole Klagsbrun, Owner and Founder, Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery; Andrea Rosen, Owner and Founder, Andrea Rosen Gallery; and Lisa Spellman, Owner and Founder, 303 Gallery.
Championing curatorial perspectives
The Armory Show’s curated sections are an integral part of the fair, allowing international curators to explore and expand on a particular theme of their choosing.
For the Focus section, curator Wassan Al-Khudhairi (Chief Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis) will investigate the artist’s role in shaping the future and imagining realities beyond our current condition. Using the challenges and monumental changes over the past year as a catalyst, artworks in this section will explore the future possibilities that exist for communities, governments, economies, and environments.
Highlights include:
• Carla Jay Harris’ Celestial Bodies (2018-ongoing) presented by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles (Los Angeles). In this series of photo-based limited-edition prints, Harris reimagines ancient omnipresent gods as heroic and peaceful black protagonists inhabiting the spaces where heaven meets earth.
• Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme‘s single channel video, At those terrifying frontiers where the existence and disappearance of people fade into each other (2019), from Proyectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala City). The piece remixes lines from Edward Said’s After the Last Sky to create a new script that reflects on what it means now to be constructed as an ‘illegal’ person, body, or entity.
• A solo presentation by Crow Nation artist Wendy Red Star entitled A Float for the Future from Sargent’s Daughters (New York), reimagines the traditional Crow Fair Parade for an altered world. The installation captures the spirit of the famed Crow Fair and its celebratory floats, while presenting a vision for the future of celebration, community, continuity, and culture.
Platform, devoted to large-scale installations and site-specific works, will be curated by Claudia Schmuckli (Curator-in-Charge of Contemporary Art and Programming, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) on the theme of Ecologies of Care. Schmuckli will consider how new models of care – for the self, each other, and the environment – can counter the severe threats of climate change and both biological and social viruses that are decimating populations and dividing societies. The full list of participating artists and galleries will be announced in the coming months.
Armory Arts Week
The Armory Show serves as the gateway to New York’s art scene for local and international audiences. Now in September, the fair will kick off the fall arts season in New York, with an extensive VIP program and public events that provide access to museum exhibitions, gallery openings, and collection visits across the five boroughs.
