The Armory Show never fails to both impress and overwhelm. Taking place over the weekend, the 22nd edition sported record attendance and strong sales, and assembled 205 contemporary and modern art galleries from 36 countries.

As in previous years, the fair took over two piers on the West Side Highway. Pier 92 was devoted to the Armory Show’s Modern section and played home to galleries such as Marlborough, Andrew Edlin, and Sims Reed. Pier 94 housed the popular Contemporary, as well as the Armory Focus, Armory Presents, and Publications areas.

Among the things that this year’s fair will be remembered for are the African Perspectives section curated by Julia Grosse and Yvette Mutumba, the talk with New York Magazine’s Jerry Saltz on visual criticism in the digital age, and an array of tote bags floating around donning truisms by author Douglas Coupland. Those lucky enough to attend the VIP preview were treated to a performance by Italian artist Romina de Novellis at Alberta Pane Gallery. Entitled La Gabbia, the work found de Novellis sitting naked in a chicken-wire box filled with roses. Throughout the day, she pushed the roses into the chicken wire, filling the walls of the cage to induce a romantic suffocation.

Near the entrance of the Modern pier, a slow-motion car crash played out over the course of the fair’s five days. Meticulously choreographed, the piece was the handy work of artist Jonathan Schipper and was presented by Pierogi Gallery.

Perhaps more low key than previous years, the fair offered its share of mirrored surfaces, text-based art, and large-scale paintings by Kehinde Wiley. Works that caught our eye included Gabriele Picco’s Brillo Painting, Claire Tabouret’s The Team, and Matthew Monahan’s Son of a Gun, a series of sculptures the artist made by shooting a Colt 45 through 116 pages of printed paper. Two Palms devoted its entire booth to paintings by Cecily Brown, Mayoral transformed its space into Miro’s studio, and Jack Shainman never fails to disappoint, this year presenting works by Nick Cave, Hank Willis Thomas, Kay Hassan, Kerry James Marshall, Barkley Hendricks, and more in their spacious area. You’ll find more highlights of the Armory Show below in our photo gallery.

The Armory Show also had its share of art stars and celebrities passing through. Among those in attendance were Dustin Hoffman, George Lucas, Steve Martin, Michael Stipe, John Waters, James Marsden, Maurizio Cattelan, Kiki Smith, and Sofia Coppola.

It will be interesting to see what happens with next year’s fair. 2016 was definitely a year of keeping things status quo, as longtime Armory Show head Noah Horowitz exited for Art Basel over the summer. The new executive director, Benjamin Genocchio, who only assumed the role in January, is sure to make his mark come 2017.

All photos except Matthew Monahan’s Son of a Gun & Douglas Coupland Slogans for the 21st Century taken by Mindy Bond. Son of Gun taken from Artsy.