The 30th Anniversary edition of The Armory Show opens in a couple of weeks (September 6th–8th, with a VIP Preview Day on September 5th) again at the Javits Center.
This year welcomes the fourth iteration of Armory Off-Site, which brings together performances across the city in addition to large-scale sculptural installations at the US Open. The fair will also present a newly redesigned theater as part of Armory Live, which features public conversations and the Curatorial Leadership Summit, the invitation-only symposium bringing nearly 100 curators to the fair. For its 30th anniversary, The Armory Show is partnering with Hästens for a special presentation that will recreate a hotel room inspired by the fair’s original 1994 edition at the Gramercy Park Hotel.
This year’s programming reflects the vibrancy of the city in which it was founded. From citywide performances and activations to complex and diverse discussions, we’re thrilled to provide opportunities for our audience to engage with The Armory Show’s spirit of discovery at the fair and outside the walls of the Javits Center.
Kyla McMillan, Director of The Armory Show.
ARMORY OFF-SITE
The fourth iteration of Armory Off-Site presents public artworks spanning from performances and activations across New York City to large-scale sculptures at the US Open. City-Wide projects include:
The performance of Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity, 2024 by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, organized by Madison Square Park Conservancy in partnership with Harlem Art Park.
A recent performance by Oliver Herring presented by Bank (Shanghai) paying homage to queer icons whose creative forces and visionary careers were tragically and prematurely interrupted.
A new work by David Salle presented in partnership with Times Square Arts as part of the Midnight Moment program with support from Lehmann Maupin (New York, Seoul, London, Hong Kong) and Gladstone Gallery (New York, Los Angeles, Brussels, Rome, and Seoul).
The mobile exhibition Body Freedom for Every(body) organized by Project for Empty Space aimed towards creating awareness, cultivating community, and engendering support for bodily autonomy through art
The Armory Show will partner with the US Open for the third time to present works by artists from underrepresented backgrounds. The artworks, ranging from sculpture to mixed-media installations, will be on view at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center starting during US Open Fan Week, which features free grounds admission August 19th-25th, through the finals ending on September 8th. This partnership is grounded in the USTA and The Armory Show’s shared vision for creativity, inspiration, and equity.
Projects include:
Runner (2021) by Tomokazu Matsuyama, an abstracted, poetic incarnation of the function and cultural meaning of running, presented by Kavi Gupta (Chicago).
Tetl Mirror I (2024) by Claudia Peña Salinas, which combines sculpture, images, and installation to explore Aztec and Mayan mythology, presented by Embajada (San Juan).
New York-based mixed media artist Eva Robarts’ sculpture, Fantasy of Happiness (2022), which uses discarded tennis balls caught within the chain-link of a reclaimed gate. The work is presented by Ruttkowski;68 (Cologne, Düsseldorf, New York, Paris).
Taiwanese-Canadian sculptor An Te Liu’s bronze-casted Venus Redux (2018), an exploration of memory, objecthood, and perception, presented by Blouin Division (Montreal).
ARMORY LIVE
Armory Live runs September 6-8 and consists of insightful debates and discussions with significant artists, curators, writers, collectors, and institutional leadership from across the art world. The discussions will take place in the redesigned Armory Live Theater at the Javits Center.
The program will commence on September 6 with the keynote discussion of the seventh annual Curatorial Leadership Summit chaired by Lauren Cornell, Chief Curator of the Hessel Museum of Art and the Director of the Graduate Program at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. The keynote is open to all fair attendees and will welcome filmmaker and installation-artist Isaac Julien in discussion with Lauren Cornell.
The program for Armory Live will also include:
Kyla McMillan, The Armory Show’s new Director, in conversation with Sarah Douglas (ARTnews) on her vision for the fair.
Artists Sanford Biggers, Dominique Fung, and Nicholas Galanin in conversation with Eugenie Tsai on the 2024 Platform section titled Collective Memory.
Mariët Westermann (Guggenheim Museum), Stefanie Hessler (Swiss Institute), and Sohrab Mohebbi (SculptureCenter) in discussion with Marko Gluhaich (frieze magazine) on innovations within New York’s cultural landscape.
Artists American Artist, Oliver Herring, Jeanne Silverthrone, and Jimmy Wright in discussion with Robyn Farrell (The Kitchen) about the 2024 Focus section examining the original spirit of the fair in its 30th Anniversary.
A live recording of the podcast Art from the Outside with Amitha Raman and Will Palley, co-chairs of MoMA’s Young Patrons Council.
30TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION
Celebrating the fair’s 30th Anniversary, The Armory Show has partnered with Hästens to recreate a room inspired by the fair’s founding location at the Gramercy Park Hotel, complete with ephemera, archival images, and video to showcase the spirit of the original editions. A Hästens mattress will be featured in this installation and guests will be invited to lounge within the space, take photographs, and step into the fair’s history.
Initial concept by The Armory Show, production design by Studio Earl. A donation has been made to the Center for Curatorial Studies Library and Archives, Bard College for their support.
PRIZES
During the run of the fair, The Armory Show will award three prizes, showcasing the fair’s commitment to providing support to artists and galleries. Recipients will be announced during the fair. Prizes details are as follows: The Pommery Prize, supported by Champagne Pommery, will award an artist in the Platform section $20,000. The TPC Art Finance Presents Prize will award a gallery in the Presents section an amount equal to their booth cost. The Sauer Artist Prize will award an artist in the Focus section $10,000.
THE ARMORY SHOW, September 6th – September 8th, 2024 thearmoryshow.com
