NEW YORK CITY.- Visitors will be greeted by Wim Delvoye sculptures, on view for the first time in New York, as they enter Pier 94 for The Armory Show 2007, The International Fair of New Art. With 150 of the world’s leading galleries, The Armory Show promises to deliver a fresh presentation of the most exciting new art by living artists in its ninth edition. As Mayor Bloomberg commented, “The Armory Show has quickly become one of the world’s leading art marketplaces, helping to fuel the City’s economy, and enhance our status as a top cultural destination.”

Collectors, critics, curators and art enthusiasts have greeted the new venue with excitement. Under one roof for the first time in six years, The Armory Show 2007 offers larger booths, wide aisles, and gourmet food provided by renowned chef Danny Meyer’s catering company, Hudson Yards Catering. Danny Meyer is responsible for notable New York restaurants including Union Sqaure Café, Gramercy Tavern, Tabla, The Modern and Blue Smoke.

In keeping with The Armory Show’s commitment to remain on the cutting edge of the contemporary art world, twenty-nine galleries will make their debut, including one from Transylvania and another from Cape Town. The galleries come from 38 international cities and will showcase new art by more than 2,000 living artists. Half of the exhibitors come from Europe with a significant number from Asia, India, Israel, and Mexico also presenting.

Much of the art will debut at the fair, including an installation brought to New York by Clifford Chance, Armory Show Presenting Sponsor. The global law firm will host Asylum by Julian Rosefeldt (Arndt & Partner, Berlin/Zurich) in their lounge. Among the artists who will be seen in New York and/or in the US for the first time at The Armory Show are Satoshi Ohno (Tomio Koyama, Tokyo), Markus Schinwald (Georg Kargl, Vienna), Axel Geis (Jan Wentrup, Berlin), Ross Chisholm (IBID Projects, London), Nicholas Hlobo (Michael Stevenson, Cape Town), Kader Attia (Andrehn-Schiptjenko, Stockholm), Chris Marker (Peter Blum, New York), Edward Kay (Dicksmith Gallery, London), and Niklas Eneblom (Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm). Bellwether (New York) will feature a pair of different artists each day of the fair, beginning with John Bauer and Everest Hall on opening day. Stella Lohaus (Antwerp), a first time exhibitor, will host a solo installation of Erik van Lieshout’s huge, colorful drawings of situations in life and society. Hauser & Wirth (Zurich, London) will debut a small adaptation of Pipilotti Rist’s audio video installation la belle toile that opened at the Center Georges Pompidou last month.

Many galleries are devoting their stands to single artist installations. Among those will be Deb Kass at Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York), Jorg Herold at EIGEN + ART (Berlin/Leipzig), Michael Wetzel at John Connelly Presents (New York), Julian Hoeber at Blum & Poe (Los Angeles), Moyna Flannagan at Sarah Meltzer (New York) and David Noonan at Foxy Production (New York). Large-scale installations will include Karl Haendel’s graphite drawings at Anna Helwing (Los Angeles), Yayoi Kusama at Robert Miller Gallery (New York), a 20-foot wall painting by Yinka Shonibare at James Cohan Gallery (New York), a 9-foot high Peter Coffin sculpture at Herald Street (London) and “Social Mirror”, a 12-ton garbage truck covered in mirrors by Mierle Laderman Ukeles at Ronald Feldman Gallery (New York).

Much of the art will come straight from the artist’s studio and only be on public display for the duration of the fair. New solo projects by Liz Craft and Alexander Ross will be on display at Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York). Kate Gilmore’s new video will be shown at Pierogi (Brooklyn). Produzentengalerie (Hamburg) will present new work by Ulla von Brandenburg and Norbert Schwontkowski. Peres Projects (Los Angeles) will show new work by Terence Koh and Dan Colen. Katy Moran’s new paintings will be the focus of Stuart Shave/Modern Art’s (London) booth. Lehmann Maupin (New York) will present a special installation of Japanese artist Mr. as a preview of his first solo exhibition in New York. Gary Hill premiers new video at In Situ (Paris). Hiromi Yoshii (Tokyo) will feature young emerging artists from Japan, including Yoshitaka Azuma, Soichi Yamaguchi and Koichi Enomoto.

A full program of events rounds out The Armory Show. More than 100 galleries and museums have scheduled openings to coincide with the fair. Twenty of New York’s greatest art collectors are hosting open houses and tours of their homes. The Belgian, Dutch and Swedish Consuls are hosting receptions and parties highlighting the participating galleries and artists from their countries. Collectors can learn about issues in the art market at numerous panel discussions and a three-day symposium, Art and Public Reception, organized by The International Symposium on the Arts in Society at New York University.

For the first time since 2002, The Armory Show is running concurrently with The Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America, to provide international collectors ease of access to two remarkable and unique art world events. One of America’s most prestigious fairs, The Art Show features 70 of the nation’s leading art galleries exhibiting works by international artists ranging from recently completed contemporary painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and multi-media works to museum-quality pieces from the 19th and 20th centuries. The Art Show runs from February 22-26 at the Park Avenue Armory at 67th Street. More information is available at www.artdealers.org/artshow.