Armory Arts Week 2019 Wrap-Up: Armory Show, NADA, VOLTA/Plan B & Clio
While this year’s lead story should have been The Armory Show’s 25th Anniversary, instead, developments from supporting cast members, NADA, Volta, and Spring/Break Art Fair, stole the spotlight. This trio persevered through re-invention and last-minute relocation.
Of course, we can’t help but wonder if Armory Arts Week is nearing extinction. Only time will tell. It certainly isn’t what it used to be.
Our coverage of the week will come in two parts. Here we include The Armory Show, Volta/Plan B, NADA and Clio Art Fair. Stay tuned for part 2.
New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) announced last summer there would be no New York fair in 2019. The non-profit would instead organize alternative programming to support its members. NADA New York, which launched in 2012, had become the heart of Armory Arts Week. Community was its bedrock, so naturally, this was seen as a significant loss.
NADA replaced its fair with an initiative dubbed New York Gallery Open. Designed to bring audiences to over 60 art galleries, non-profits and alternative spaces around the city during the week of March 4-10, New York Gallery Open featured artist talks, opening receptions, screenings, performances, guided tours, and extended gallery hours, as well as a Nina Katchadourian-inspired dance party at Fridman gallery. Maps outlining the locations of NADA member galleries were also distributed.
New York Gallery Open was a gallant effort to increase foot traffic to member galleries. It offered art enthusiasts an intimate alternative to the fair scene. We aren’t sure if it led to more sales for the galleries, but we certainly hope the initiative returns for 2020.
Also worth noting, many of NADA’s members found homes at other fairs like The Armory Show and Independent.
Fire Group Show at Baby Company
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As disappointed as we were about NADA New York’s exit, it was absolutely heartbreaking what happened to Volta. Due to a structural issue at one of The Armory Show piers, Volta announced that it was relinquishing its home at Pier 90 and postponing its 2019 fair. The news came less than two weeks before the fair was set to open. This was tragic. Volta with its solo focus is the darling of Armory Arts Week. The organizers scrambled, and thanks to the support of Peter Hort, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, David Zwirner, and RiSBE, came up with Plan B, a pop-up exhibition that involved roughly half of the galleries that were originally slated to participate in this year’s fair. Other Volta galleries found homes at Art on Paper, Independent, Spring/Break Art Show and Scope.
An intimate affair, Plan B ran from March 6-9, 2019 at two locations, 525 West 19th Street and 534 West 21st. Admission was free. The vibe of the pop-up was much like the early days of Independent. The galleries did their best to showcase their solo-project presentations. One artist we spoke to remarked that he had produced a lot more work for the fair, but space was tight. He was making the most of a less-than-ideal situation. Overall, the gallerists and artists were upbeat and crowds found their way to this last-minute fix.
Highlights include Sam Jackson’s painted portraits, Chris Finley’s flaming muppets watercolors, and Espace A Vendre’s area featuring the work of Stéphane Steiner.
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Dubbed the anti-fair for independent artists, Clio Art Fair popped up in Chelsea during Armory Arts Week. This year’s edition showcased over 70 artists who are plugging away without gallery representation.
The curatorial board of the fair prepared a special section for 2019 entitled I want to go Home. It was dedicated to refugees and featured artworks that explore “the physical and mental boundaries that condition the geopolitics of our world.”
Standouts include Rebecca Williams‘ series paying homage to Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Ponie O’s clever 3D illustrations, and Arthur Becker’s artworks the incorporate origami fish and butterflies made from currency.
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The Armory Show rang in 25 years of art fair-ing with a whimper. Perhaps it was feat enough that the fair was able to quickly rebound after finding out that one of its pier-homes wasn’t structurally sound. Rejiggering the layout to move exhibitors from Pier 92 to Pier 90 worked out; to fairgoers, it came off seamless.
The best part of the 2019 Armory Show was Focus curated by Lauren Haynes. A section devoted to solo and dual-artist presentations, this year’s theme revolved around the human experience and found artists exploring the notion of humanness. Among our favorites were Carrie Seacrist Gallery’s display of Liliana Porter’s theatrical vignettes, Curro’s booth featuring Octavio Abúndez’s text-based works, and rosenfeld porcini’s presentation of Ndidi Emefiele’s layered compositions.
As for other sections of the fair, Platform and its theme of Worlds of Tomorrow featured artworks that dealt with issues of consumerism, trauma, co-dependency, prejudice and the migrant crisis. It was a bit of a downer. Leo Villareal’s special project for the fair, Star Ceiling, was inspiring if you were able to access it. The immersive work, which was a 75-foot-long LED installation that hangs overhead, was installed in an outdoor passageway. Since it was outside, it was difficult to view unless you had VIP pass or left it for last, since the guards instructed patrons there was no re-entry.
In the Galleries, Gallery Hyundai’s selection of Nam June Paiks was impressive, 303 Gallery displayed a Rodney Graham that was recently installed in their Chelsea gallery, Jeffrey Deitch hung Ai Wei Wei’s Zodiac (2018) LEGO portrait series, and Proyectos Moclova scored high marks for its presentation. The Presents section, which showcases galleries under 10 years old, is always worth a wander. This year’s standouts were Charlie James Gallery’s booth and Anat Ebgi Gallery’s presentation of artist Jay Stuckey.
