August has closed, the dust of Art-o-rama Marseille still in the air, and already the art world pivots toward New York to open a new season. Much has been said about the supposed death of the scene, yet this September the city hosts no fewer than twelve fairs. At FAD, we know twelve in a month is a marathon, so we’ve distilled the list to six—four seasoned fixtures and two newcomers worth your time.
The Armory Show, September 5th–7th thearmoryshow.com
The 31st edition of The Armory Show returns to the vast halls of the Javits Center, bringing together more than 230 galleries. This year, the Platform section takes a new direction under the curatorship of Souls Grown Deep, the nonprofit championing Black artistry from the American South, with a powerful mix of paintings, assemblages, sculpture, and textiles. A debut Function section sharpens the fair’s design focus, while programming pushes past Hudson Yards through citywide collaborations.
At the Queens Museum, a partnership with Gagosian transforms the facade with a monumental banner of Honor Titus’s tennis scene Louis Malle Practice (2025), while in Times Square, Marina Zurkow’s multi-channel animation The River is a Circle (Times Square Edition) ripples across 95 billboards each night, in collaboration with Times Square Arts and the Whitney Museum. MORE
Duet at WSA, September 4th–8th wsa.nyc
Duet brings together 11 contemporary galleries in a selling exhibition staged across two freshly renovated floors of the Water Street Associates tower in the Financial District. Curated by Kyle DeWoody and Zoe Lukov, the show turns on themes of doppelgängers, doubles, and mirrored selves. It’s the latest venture from WSA, the reimagined office block positioning itself as part alternative art space, part real estate experiment, part luxury backdrop. MORE
U-Haul Art Fair, September 5th–7th uhaulgallery.com
Between 10th and 11th Avenues and 18th and 27th Streets, in Manhattan (hopefully). Reviving the art-in-a-shipping-container tradition, the inaugural U-Haul Art Fair rolls into Chelsea with 11 galleries and independent curators setting up “booths” inside customized container trucks parked along the streets. The fair is the brainchild of the fledgling U-Haul Gallery, joining forces with exhibitors that range from the pop-up collective I Made This Up to the eccentrically titled Los Angeles space AUTOBODY autobody. Plus you can see Anthony Banks who has some works on paper at Drakes Saville Row London presented by Cedric Bardawil and A Hug From The Art World will present SOCKO (see above)
Independent 20th Century, September 4th–7th independenthq.com
Independent 20th Century returns for its 4th edition at Casa Cipriani in the Battery Maritime Building, with 30 exhibitors dedicated to art made between 1900 and 2000. The fair leans toward single-artist spotlights, often reviving overlooked voices of the last century. Highlights include a joint booth from Nahmad Contemporary and Skarstedt dedicated to French modernist Georges Rouault; Addison Rowe Gallery’s survey of American modernist Raymond Jonson; and Rosenberg & Co.’s focused presentation of Gertrude Greene, tracing her 1940s experiments in painting, collage, and abstraction. MORE
Art on Paper, September 4th–7th ny.thepaperfair.com
Art on Paper, New York City’s celebrated, medium-driven fair, returns to downtown Manhattan’s Pier 36 during Armory Art Week with 100 galleries featuring top modern and contemporary paper-based art. The fair’s eleventh edition will showcase unique and powerful projects curated by Artistic Director Nato Thompson, with a focus on can’t-miss performances highlighting the creative potential of paper. The fair’s mini bookfair, BOOKsmART, also return with 20 exhibitors. MORE
Salon Zürcher: 100 Women of Spirit +, Part 3, September 2nd–7th galeriezurcher.com
The 33rd Edition of SALON ZÜRCHER, a quiter more intimate satellite fair of The Armory Show will feature 11 women artists showing their work in the Zürcher Gallery space on Bleecker Street in Manhattan. As a continuation of the project 11 Women of Spirit, which had 9 editions from 2020-2024, 100 Women of Spirit + involves the presence of the 11 participating artists. Salon Zürcher offers collectors an intimate alternative to the large-scale, superstore-style art fairs. Here, visitors have the rare chance to speak directly with the artists. MORE
