The Armory Show opened on Wednesday at Piers 92 and 94, with a new Director, Nicole Berry, and a slightly smaller number of galleries. There was an abundance of high quality work exhibited, starting with artist JR's supersized silhouettes of immigrants outside the show waiting in line to get in. Done in partnership with Jeffrey Deitch and Artsy, JR's message continued at his installation at Deitch's booth. "JR has reinvented how to use photography," said Deitch. "He has a whole new approach to public art that engages the audience. He's done amazing projects all over the world. He is probably one of the five best known and most popular young artists in the world. 8.2 million people watched the 60 Minutes story on him." Known for his huge photographs that change urban landscapes, JR had been working on Ellis Island for five years. When the current administration forbade him to paste photos of today's migrants, he took historical photos of refugees and swapped out the faces of Syrians who have been denied entry in to the United States with the originals. "I looked for lookalikes," said JR, "and I pasted the finished work on Ellis Island, without telling anyone. It was up for months." Tara Donovan's striking pyramid of graduated plastic tubes created optical illusions of different gradations of colors, and different line drawings, depending where and how the lighting hit it. Part of the fair's Platform, Donovan showed this piece, as well as others, through Pace. "Contemporary Art has become important to millions of people," said Pace's Marc Glimcher. "We have 15,000 collectors. The idea of being able to own art has grown widely around the world, and it's worked it's magic. We don't have enough artists to supply the growing amount of collectors." Those collectors were already buying in droves at the VIP preview. "I've seen tons of things I like," said Beth DeWoody. "The show is really great. There is more room, you can really see the art more easily. There are really good galleries, and high quality art. It's fun." Shanghai-based Pearl Lam, one of the most influential dealers in Asia, was exhibiting at The Armory Show for the first time. "Establishing a presence at this important New York-based show allows us the opportunity to further deepen the strong relationships we have fostered over many years with our US-based collectors, as well as establish new relationships with collectors from the US and New York, which is undoubtedly one of the great centers of the art world," said Lam. Despite the snow and wind, the show quickly became crowded with the likes of John Waters, Sofia Coppola, Paul Rudd, Maurizio Cattelan, Renee Rockefeller, and Christine Mack, who was an early collector of Kehinde Wiley (good call!) and admired his work at the Daniel Templon booth. At Pier 92, Sarah Gavlak was encouraged by the resurgence of the art market. "I'm cautiously optimistic," said Gavlak, "and I'm very excited about Rob Wynne's upcoming show at the Brooklyn Museum. He is long overdue for that." "My vision for The Armory Show, as we near our 25th anniversary in 2019, is to look back at the original reasons the fair was created, and to honor those intentions by creating a unified fair that elicits critical thinking, a passion for art, and discoveries of new talent," said Berry. "It is important that we remain true to what made us New York’s most beloved fair, while at the same time continuing to grow in a positive direction that keeps us relevant in the ever growing fair landscape. Fairs can be stimulating environments, but it is important to also give visitors time to pause, contemplate and digest what they are seeing. I’m not sure we have that luxury much these days, and I’d like to change that."
US dealer Pearl Lam has attended the 24th New York Armory Show, his first visit to the contemporary art event. He was there to meet new customers and strengthen relationships with "collectors from the Shanghai and New York, which is undoubtedly one of the great centres of the art world", she said. Lam opened her first permanent gallery space in US in 2005 in the early years of its rise as a centre of contemporary art. She used the gallery to introduce Chinese collectors to the international art market.