NEW YORK, NY.- The Armory Show VIP Preview began Wednesday, March 2 for invited guests. The fair is open to the public from Thursday, March 3 to Sunday, March 6, from 12-7pm daily.
The 2016 edition of the fair will welcome 205 exhibiting galleries from 36 countries worldwide, making this edition the most international in the fair’s history. In addition to a strong exhibitor list that welcomes important Latin American galleries such as Galeria Fortes Vilaça (Sao Paulo), Galeria Luisa Strina (Sao Paulo) and OMR (Mexico City) for the first time in several years, the fair will also welcome it’s first-ever Cuban gallery, Habana (Havana).
Highlights of the galleries participating in the fair for the first time include: On Pier 94: Hezi Cohen Gallery (Tel Aviv), Vera Cortês Art Agency (Lisbon), Habana (Havana), Kadel Willborn (Dusseldorf), Meessen De Clercq (Brussels), Francesca Minini (Milan), Galleria Massimo Minini (Brescia), Gallery MOMO (Johannesburg, Cape Town), MOT International (London) and SIM Galeria (Curitiba). On Pier 92: 401contemporary (Berlin), Bernard Ceysson (Luxembourg), Cortesi Gallery (Lugano), Donald Ellis Gallery (New York), Michael Hoppen (London) Montrasio Arte / Km0 (Monza, Innsbruck, Milan) and Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects (New York).
Exhibitors returning to the fair after an absence include: On Pier 94: Laura Bartlett Gallery (London), Galerie Guido W. Baudach (Berlin), Galerie Bugada & Cargnel (Paris), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), Galeria Fortes Vilaça (Sao Paulo), Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg, Cape Town), Bruce Haines (London), Rhona Hoffman Gallery (Chicago), INK Studio (Beijing), Rodolphe Janssen (Brussels), Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York), Magazzino (Rome), OMR (Mexico City), Ota Fine Arts (Tokyo), Galerie Francesca Pia (Zurich), Jessica Silverman Gallery (San Francisco), STEVENSON (Cape Town, Johannesburg), Galeria Luisa Strina (Sao Paulo), Timothy Taylor (London), Vilma Gold (London), Vistamare (Pescara) and WENTRUP (Berlin). On Pier 92: Aicon Gallery (New York), Gana Art (Seoul, Busan) and Ludorff (Dusseldorf).
Focus: African Perspectives, curated by Yvette Mutumba and Julia Grosse, founders of Contemporary And (C&) features 14 participating galleries on Pier 94. Moving beyond conventional ideas of the African continent and its “counterpart,” “the Western hemisphere,” this year’s Focus will provide a glimpse of international artistic production from contemporary African viewpoints: emerging curators, artists, galleries and art spaces that connect scenes and markets through global networks. Armory Presents, devoted to galleries fewer than 10 years old, will include 22 galleries with single- and dual-artist presentations from some of the most exciting young galleries around the world, from Carlos/Ishikawa (London), RaebervonStenglin (Zurich), Gaudel de Stampa (Paris) and Daniel Faria Gallery (Toronto).
An exciting rooster of special projects are set to take place across both Piers 92 & 94, including a performance by Romina de Novellis at Galerie Alberta Pane (Paris) during the VIP Preview; a live-drawing performance by Lagos-based illustrator Karo Akpokiere in the Champagne Lounge on Pier 94; a site-specific installation by South African artist Ed Young that combines humor with unexpected materials in a series of text-based works; an interactive installation by Armory Commissioned Artist, Kapwani Kiwanga, on Pier 92; and a choreographed slow-motion car collision by Jonathan Schipper of Pierogi Gallery (Brooklyn) on Pier 92, timed to occur over the 5 days of the fair.
The Armory Show will also debut a suite of four site-specific design presentations, inspired by each space’s location and function, and integrated across Piers 92 & 94. They include presentations by Stephen Burks, Sung Jang, Studio Job, Carlo and Mary-Lynn Massoud, and Studio Drift with a custom light sculpture in the Champagne Lounge on Pier 94.
The Armory Show’s annual talks program, Open Forum, will deliver a range of diverse themes and participants, meant to engage and explore a breadth of perspectives and ideas through lively discussion. Participants include: Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; New York Magazine Senior Art Critic Jerry Saltz; legendary artist El Anatsui; Founder of the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Bisi Silva; Architect David Adjaye and Artist Isaac Julien as part of Surface Magazine’s Design Dialogues series; Curator and art dealer Jeffrey Deitch in a conversation sponsored by Athena Art Finance; Kim Drew, Online Community Producer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art who will participate in official online partner, Artsy’s "What's Next?” panel, a series of conversations on the future.
