The Armory Show reveals core details for its 30th Anniversary edition, welcoming American Express as its lead partner. Now part of the Frieze network, The Armory Show 2024 will feature over 235 galleries representing more than 30 countries across a reimagined fair design. New York’s Art Fair will return to the Javits Center September 6–8, with a VIP Preview Day on September 5.
“We are thrilled to present this important edition of The Armory Show,” says Kristell Chadé, Executive Director of Fairs at Frieze. “For the past 30 years, The Armory Show has been an anchor of the city’s cultural landscape, championing art at the forefront and providing galleries an opportunity to engage with New York audiences. It has been a pleasure working with the team to build on the strengths of the fair and expand its reach. We look forward to welcoming a number of new exhibitors and thoughtful presentations, underscoring The Armory Show’s position as a platform for discovery.”
“The addition of The Armory Show to our network of fairs solidifies Frieze’s standing in New York by building on the collective of galleries,” says Christine Messineo, Director of Americas. “The upcoming edition inaugurates a floorplan that enhances the visitor experience with reimagined meeting spaces, reoriented sections, a new theater hosting conversations with art world luminaries, and engaging partnership activations.”
“The Armory Show has been a mainstay of New York’s cultural landscape for three decades,” said Bess Spaeth, Senior Vice President, U.S. Premium Products and Membership Rewards at American Express. “Our Platinum Card Members share that same enthusiasm for the arts, which is why we are thrilled to curate exclusive experiences for them at this iconic New York event.”
As lead partner, American Express will support the fair in its entirety, including production, programming, and events. This partnership reaffirms American Express’s commitment to artistic excellence while expanding The Armory Show’s reach and influence, further solidifying its standing as New York’s Art Fair.
More than 145 exhibitors from the previous edition are returning to The Armory Show, including 303 Gallery (New York), Galeria Raquel Arnaud (São Paulo), Dastan Gallery (Tehran), Kasmin (New York), Sean Kelly (New York, Los Angeles), Victoria Miro (London, Venice), Almine Rech (New York, Paris, Brussels, London, Shanghai), Silverlens (Makati City, New York), Jessica Silverman (San Francisco), and Vielmetter Los Angeles (Los Angeles).
Among the over 25 galleries returning to the fair after a hiatus are BANK (Shanghai), Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York, Aspen), Jeffrey Deitch (New York, Los Angeles), Rodolphe Janssen (Brussels), Kapp Kapp (New York), Pippy Houldsworth Gallery (London), Proyectos Monclova (Mexico City), and Cristin Tierney (New York), Sperone Westwater (New York).
There will be more than 55 exhibitors participating in The Armory Show for the first time, including Corbett vs. Dempsey (Chicago), Commonwealth and Council (Los Angeles, Mexico City), GALLERY BATON (Seoul), LABOR (Mexico City), Mingoni (New York), Hannah Traore Gallery (New York), Experimenter (Kolkata, Mumbai), and Wilding Cran (Los Angeles)
The Armory Show will once again showcase its renowned fair sections. Galleries, the core section of the fair, presents leading international galleries featuring outstanding 20th and 21st-century artworks across a range of media. Solo is dedicated to intimate single-artist presentations of emerging, established, and historic artists. Presents features galleries under 10 years old, where exhibitors showcase recent works through solo- and dual-artist presentations.
Focus is curated by Robyn Farrell, Senior Curator at The Kitchen. The section is dedicated to solo- and dual-artist presentations centering on the experimental spirit of the fair’s 1994 founding at The Gramercy Hotel and its namesake International Exhibition of Modern Art in 1913 at New York City’s 69th Regiment Armory. Presentations in this section are centered around one or two artists, Works in this section reflect on avant-garde histories while probing the radical strategies and poetic interventions of interdisciplinary forms and cultural exchange.
Platform, this year curated by Eugenie Tsai, Independent Curator and formerly the John and Barbara Vogelstein Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum, features large-scale installations and site-specific works staged at the center of the fair that examine the interplay of memory, material, and spirit.
The Not-For-Profit section highlights presentations from museums, not-for-profit galleries, and art foundations who share a desire to promote the visual arts to collectors and the general public alike.
The Armory Show also reveals Blade Study (New York) as the recipient of The Gramercy International Prize. An homage to the fair’s original name, the Gramercy International Art Fair, the prize awards a booth to a New York–based gallery that has never participated in The Armory Show and encapsulates the same spirit of ambition, vision, and innovation in which the fair was founded in 1994. Founded in 2020 and located in the city’s Lower East Side, the gallery supports a new generation of artists with an audience for conceptually rigorous work.
Creative Time is this year’s recipient of Armory Spotlight. The renowned institution presents ambitious public art projects around New York City, the United States, and the world. Armory Spotlight honors a New York cultural institution with a booth at the fair to support its visibility, sustainability, and growth.
Press release from The Armory Show
Image: Image courtesy of the Javits Center and The Armory Show