The Armory Show 2010 — New York

ended Mar 7

The show was madness in the best kind of way. Having never been to The Armory Show before, I can’t compare it to previous editions, but if this is a low turnout, I wouldn’t want anything to do with a good one. The crowds were massive and I mean massive in volume and size. I’m not short by any means, but after a few hours in The Armory Show I was swimming just beneath the surface in a sea of tall blackcladness.

Recession be damned, I overheard many a price negotiation and actually witnessed a few deals go down with contracts signed and delivery arrangements being discussed. Money was being spent and lots of it. Seems that the carnival atmosphere really lends to the prying open of wallets.

So much caught my eye that I was dizzy with whiplash. It was so hard to move at times and make ones way around the exhibits. At times it was nearly impossible to snap photos of the work. I managed to get away with some photos, but regrettably not all that I would have taken had somebody not walked in front of me every time I was lining up my camera. I gave up after a while. There was just too much to see!

But it seemed that doing anything to stand out and make an impression was a way to go. Not an easy task. There was much that was eye-catching, but Nicole Klagusbrun Gallery wins the unique booth award:

All yellow art and a yellow floor to boot.

Crowds are dangerous for the art. I witnessed one guy nearly topple a glass ball off its pedestal and didn’t seem phased at all about the crime that he had just committed, only bothering to haphazardly put it back on its perch. I noticed that some of the gallery attendants became more and more visibly nervous as the time went on and the crowds grew which might have inspired this:

I also noticed that there was a lot of male frontal nudity. When I noticed the pattern, I started to document but can’t post as this is an accessible website. I’ve included one few for your viewing pleasure:

There was a lot of video work on display. The most memorable had two men playing ping-pong with a bruised woman serving as the table net. It was quite disturbing. I searched for the artist and gallery, but alas could not find it. Dead animals and male frontal nudity were also a consistent theme in the videos (Sean Landers who authored both these full frontal works also painted animals adorned in bold fabric patterns rather than fur):