NEW YORK.- With a new layout featuring 35% larger booths and 162 of the world’s best contemporary art galleries from 39 cities worldwide, The Armory Show, The International Fair of New Art, anticipates 40,000 visitors through March 14 on Piers 90 and 92 in New York City. Art lovers will descend upon New York to add to their collections with the hottest new art and enjoy a week of exclusive private collection tours, symposia on the state of contemporary art, intimate interactions with artists Jockum Nordström and Elizabeth Murray, live broadcasts of WPS1, the world’s first art radio station, and the art world’s gala of the season, The Opening Night Preview Party, a benefit for the Exhibition Fund of The Museum of Modern Art. As Mayor Bloomberg wrote in his welcoming letter, “Galleries will showcase the very best and most innovative art found throughout the world, and New York City’s residents and visitors will have the opportunity to experience the amazing world of contemporary art.”

With $43 million in sales in 2004, The Armory Show continues to set the pace for a booming art market. Since The Armory Show exhibits only new art by living artists, it is a rare opportunity to see art that will be shown for the first time and go directly into a private collection. As a vetted fair, more than 550 galleries applied for 2005, a 23% increase from 2004. Twenty-seven galleries make their debut this year, including one from India. Fifty percent of the galleries come from Europe with a significant number from Latin America and Asia, as well. Serving as a catalyst to harness the energy of the art world’s center, The Armory Show joins forces with New York’s heavyweights to create a week of unprecedented art activities. Twenty private collectors are hosting tours for Armory Show visitors. Eight museums have organized special events, ranging from a reception with production designer Dante Ferretti at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to an elegant brunch at the Museum of Modern Art. Similar to the explosive mix of The Whitney Biennial opening during The Armory Show in 2004, PS1 opens its highly anticipated Greater New York exhibit the weekend of the fair. As part of its commitment to emerging artists, The Armory Show is collaborating with four other art festivals that have been organized to coincide with The Armory Show and benefit from its international appeal: -scopeNew York, Art Rock, The Digital & Video Art Fair and Israeli Art Week in New York.

Highlights of the art on display at the fair will include Don Brown’s sculpture Yoko II showcased at Sadie Coles HQ (London). ESPO, aka Steve Powers, will transform Deitch Project’s (New York) booth into a bakery and serve free cookies. Peres Projects (Los Angeles) will present new work by assume vivid astro focus and Kaye Donachie, among others. Artist Allison Smith will create an “armory” in Bellwether’s (New York) booth. Julian Opie cars will greet visitors at the entrance to each pier and a “camera obscura” bus will take brief excursions around the city from the piers.

As part of its commitment to promote cutting edge art, for the fourth year The Armory Show commissioned an artist to produce original art for all visual materials. The artist’s work gets broad international exposure and past commissions have enhanced the careers of Lisa Ruyter, Baranaby Furnas and Karen Kilimnik. This year, Jockum Nordstrom’s signature collages have been displayed multiple times in more than 100 print and online outlets. More than twenty pages of his art transforms The Armory Show 2005 catalogue from a useful reference guide into a collector’s item. The Swedish Ambassador will honor Nordström, a Swedish artist, at a reception during the fair. With added resources from its new Presenting Sponsor, Clifford Chance LLP, a global law firm providing services to the world’s leading financial services and multinational businesses, The Armory Show continues to expand and improve its services and reach. This year’s new layout and tighter gallery selection offers visitors a more accessible experience and peaceful water views to balance the sheer enormity of work by 2,000 artists. Restaurants have been designed in newly renovated spaces at the end of each pier, opening up space to show more art than ever before.