With the endless autumn/winter fashion week season and the Oscars now behind us, the well-heeled and creative glitterati turn their focus back to New York City for The Armory Show 2018. Opening on Wednesday, March 7 with a VIP Preview Day, the fair will then officially open to welcome the general public from Thursday, March 8 to Sunday, March 11. Last year’s vernissage saw tennis legend John McEnroe, architect Peter Marino and fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez eyeballing art around the carpeted floors of Piers 92 and 94. While celebrity sightings shouldn’t be this week’s focus, getting oneself into The Museum of Modern Art’s fussy The Armory Party, sure will be. The dance party benefit, also on March 7, is a hot ticket that draws the city’s influential and attractive.
It should be noted that not all is roses and champagne as the fair opens: In a year plagued by sexual-misconduct, misogyny scandals and “Me Too” in the creative, business and political worlds, the Armory Show’s former executive director, Benjamin Genocchio, has been dismissed amid allegations that the New York Times reported stemmed from “five women who [had] worked with him over the years [and] experienced unwelcome touching.”
It will be interesting to observe how many of the show’s staggering 198 galleries (hailing from more than 30 countries) will hone in on the Time’s Up movement as they present their finest contemporary projects from world-renowned and up-and-coming artists.
Organizers divulged that there will be 66 returning exhibitors this year who did not show at the 2017 affair. Gagosian is sure to make a triumphant return to the show as are the much-loved Perrotin gallery and Regen Projects of Los Angeles.
There will 43 first-time galleries showing, including the impressive Pearl Lam Galleries of Hong Kong and Night Gallery, based in Los Angeles.
Separate from the gilded oeuvres and masterpieces on display at The Armory art show are eight concurrent satellite fairs (Art on Paper, NADA, Scope, Independent, Collective Design, Moving Image Art Fair, Spring/Break Art Show and Volta NY) that will also deliver noteworthy creative moments and artists. These top-notch art fairs will compete for attention alongside a multitude of museum exhibition openings, gallery unveils, and charity parties.
Additionally, an onslaught of engaging seminars, receptions, private tours and other activations, exclusively produced for The Armory Show, will take place throughout the New York City area, principally as a part of the fair’s VIP programming.
Last spring, with the atmosphere inside the tents of the Frieze art show feeling a wee bit deflated (and the trek to Randall’s Island undeniably a nuisance); The Armory Show stands as the must-see art fair in New York. There is even the Pommery Champagne lounge, Champagne Bar, to motivate you to navigate the maze of booths.
(Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
For more information on the events and visiting hours, click here.
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