The Armory Show 2020 (PIER 90)

Featured Artists: Andrea Chung, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), Viktor Popović, Anne Samat, Katja Larsson, Kumasi J. Barnett, Susan MacWilliam, Agustina Woodgate, Jamal Cyrus, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Robert Nava, Dyani White Hawk, Sky Hopinka, Adrian Wong, Christine Wang, Robert Rauschenberg, John Chamberlain, Ed Ruscha, Duane Michals, Tim Youd, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Jana Vander Lee, Timothy Curtis 13. Yayoi Kusama, Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol, David Beck, Salvatore Scarpitta

Venue: The Armory Show, New York, US

Featured Galleries: Klowdenman, New Image Art, C24 Gallery, Marc Straus, Aicon Contemporary, Lowell Ryan Projects, Connersmith, Spinello Projects, Inman Gallery, Curro, Sorry Were Closed, Bockley Gallery, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Night Gallery, Barbara Mathes Gallery, Helwasher Gallery, DC Moore Gallery, Cristin Tierney, ACA Galleries, albertz benda, Whitestone, Caviar20, Ludorff, Hackett Mill, montrasio arte

Date: March 6 – 8, 2020

Photography: © Kiki Petratou / all images courtesy of the artists and galleries

Post Armory, Post Independent
by Kiki Petratou

Few days ago I got asked by a journalist from the culture desk of Spanish newspaper El País to comment on our participation in ARCOmadrid, if participating in Arco has affected us, our staff or our gallery in any way. This question came as a result of the Spanish Health Minister’s announcement that a big amount of the contagions of coronavirus that have occurred in Madrid happened during the last week of February. That is when ARCO took place. The journalist’s task was to write an article evaluating whether or not it was a good decision to celebrate this event.

ARCO however was not the only fair that was realized during the coronavirus outbreak. Several weeks have passed since the last art fair that happened kissed us (currently not such a good idea) goodbye and already many reviews are written and published worldwide. Nonetheless now that the jet lag left me finally alone and the Covid19 measures have forced everybody to stay at home and the subsequent scheduled fairs to be cancelled or postponed I decided to reflect on the most recently realized ones namely The Armory Show and The Independent NY that took place in New York simultaneously. My reflection will not follow the journalist’s line on how a good or less good idea was the celebration or non-celebration of the fair now that we have more information about the spreading of the virus. Since we cannot undo the past I prefer to look on the bright side and give it a more buoyant and in this case a mere artistic approach. That this approach will be of a more personal, more subjective, more idiosyncratic and deeply contemplative nature goes without saying!

Trending in New York, in the street, at the fairs and everywhere else, the ‘elbow bumping’ greeting method had replaced traditional kissing and handshaking habits for nothing but the coronavirus spread’s sake, just to be on the safe side.

On the safe side were the art fairs as well with a few distinct themes, twists and shakes; with lots of painting, historical presentations, lots of dead artists; no surprise there. But then again there were curated sections (an increasingly fashionable practice we see in every bona fide art fair), there was activist and political art on display, there was performance art (in some occasions the presence of the performer was continuous through the whole duration of the event), there was an apparent interest on African and Native American art.

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THE ARMORY SHOW

March 5-8 2020

Piers 90 and 94 at 711 12th Avenue, Manhattan

“The essential New York art fair” (as it is branded by its organizers) massive in scale and offer occupied Pier 90 and Pier 94. All of Pier 90 was devoted to curated sections: “Perspectives”, a historical section of 20^th century work evocative of the earlier days of the fair, lead by Nora Burnett Abrams of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, and “Focus” devoted to solo and dual artist presentations, curated by Jamillah James of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Pier 94 included for the biggest part a little bit of everything in the fair’s core and most established section “Galleries”; the “Presents” section showcasing galleries no more than ten years old and “Platform” curated by Anne Ellegood (also of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) and devoted to large scale installations and performances.

In sort the Armory Show would suit anyone who wanted a taste of everything as the fair sprawled tenses past and present. Here are some themes, lines and motifs that caught my attention through the different sections of the fair.

PRESENTS

Voloshyn gallery presented Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova’ s solo project “The Market” (2017-2020) a recognizable pastry shop with all its necessary accessories, including a glass display, assorted sweets, mechanical scales, only in this case ‘the foodstuffs’ were manufactured of heavyweight construction materials: ceramic tiles, cement, concrete and natural stone. The Market came to life with Kadyrova herself selling her work by weight.

The performance label applies to the work of Mella Jaarsma as well at Baik + Khneysser. Her installation of photographs and figurative works was activated with performers occupying the sculptural costumes.

PLATFORM

My very favorite in this section was Edward and Nancy Kienholz’s “The Caddy Court” (1986-87), brought by L.A. Louver. A spliced 1966 Dodge van between the front and rear parts of a 1978 Cadillac and filled with taxidermied animal heads and skulls and other curios reimagine the Supreme Court of the United States in one of its original functions as a circuit court.

FOCUS

“Colonialism Is State Sponsored Terror” reads a text in Umar Rashid/ Frohawk Two Feathers’ undoubtedly compelling political work, seen at New Image Art. His images contain a mash up of historical and cultural references combining elements of 18th and 19th century colonial portraiture and folk art with visual signifiers of contemporary urban culture, including jewelry and body art associated with present-day gangsters and hipsters. Frohawk Two Feathers wryly points to the instability of public histories and confronts issues of race, power, and greed.

Viktor Popović’s photographic installation “Untitled (Archive: Zenčišće)” at C24 Gallery juxtaposes old images of the former resort/rehabilitation center for children from Belgrade at the Zenčišće Bay in Jelsaon, with new photographs of the same site in its dilapidated and beyond hope of reconstruction state — a simple but effective visual essay on the lasting effects of war.

Addressing real world issues but through a superhuman genre, Kumasi J. Barnett at Lowell Ryan Projects negotiates the relation between contemporary American narratives and the reality of justice making us reexamine cultural conceptions surrounding the Good versus Evil paradigm. His presentation features 100 hand-painted comic book works pinned up in their clear plastic sleeves, and a large-scale neon sign in the style of the comic book titles. For each work, Barnett has painted over the cover of an old Marvel or DC comic book, replacing familiar heroes with characters including “The Amazing Black-Man”, “Whitedevil”, and “Police-Man”. Barnett replaces Superman’s logo with the stars and bars of the Confederate flag and Spider-Man’s full-body leotard with a hoodie and jeans, and turns the supernatural villains into (a no less brutal nemesis) the police.

PERSPECTIVES

ACA Galleries present Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s rag paintings and sculptures that celebrate cultural identities of African Americans. The work articulating childhood memories, the struggles and triumphs Robinson knew as a single mother and black female artist, is an admonishing tale about racism and social injustice.

GALLERIES

In the fair’s most potpourri section but with a museum allure I encountered some of the most historical works and personal all time favorites:

Hanne Darboven’s minimalist work on paper from 1973 and Joseph Beuys’ “Ende des Kapitalismus (Denk Maschine)” from 1981, at Galerie Crone; Marina Abramovic & Ulay, Sol Lewitt and Donald Evans at RICHARD SALTOUN; Jonas Mekas at APALAZZOGALLERY; Jannis Kounellis, Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana at MAZZOLENI; Giuseppe Desiato’s photographic triptych “Betty B. (Ephemeral monument)” from 1986 at Isabella Bortolozzi. John Baldessari was undoubtedly the king of all stars with appearances at YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY and also at Brooke Alexander, Inc. among others.