William Klein – Atom Bomb Sky, New York, 1955

The Armory Show 2015 is now underway in New York, along with a number of other art fairs, which is celebrated as the Armory Arts Week. A leading international contemporary and modern art fair, and also one of the most important cultural events in the New York calendar, the art fair takes place every year on Piers 92 & 94 in central Manhattan. The fair, which has been running for 16 years, is devoted to showcasing the most important artworks of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. We have selected a number of our favourite works from the fair for you to take a look at.

Henning Strassburger – Everything I want to do is illegal, 2015

Primarily a multimedia painter, the artist is best known for his work in conceptual music videos. Recently his paintings have featured subjects or images at the corners or edges of the work, in which he looks to “empty out the centre”, an aim which he shared with his influences, Pierre Bonnard and Moira Dryer. Featured by BolteLang, which is a gallery that looks to present contemporary work in paintings, sculpture and installations.

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Annette Kelm – Bouquet, 2013

The conceptually inclined photographs by Annette Kelm look to draw on the language of advertising. The photographs are taken within a strict framework of still life, landscape and portrait, which looks to isolate functional objects from their surroundings, and break them down into formal components of colour and shape. Featured by the Johann König Gallery, which focuses on conceptual works in a variety of media, including sculpture, video, sound, painting printmaking, photography and performance.

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Liu Wei – Light of the Night, 2015

The artist has stated that he doesn’t “begin from a material or a technique” but rather has an idea and then decides how he wants to express it. Part of a number of emerging modern Chinese artists, Liu Wei works in a variety of media and has progressed from witty cultural critiques, to evocative pieces that look to comment on urbanisation and materialism rapidly changing the face of China. Featured by the Whitechapel Gallery London, which is known as a touchstone for contemporary art internationally.

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Jeppe Hein – YOU ARE SPECIAL, 2014

Known for creating installations, which challenge the traditional notion of the passive viewer, Hein’s site-specific work, are conceptual and interactive. The work is often activated by the viewers, whether casting reflections or being startled by the work, such as an aluminium box that trembles when approached, Shaking Cube (2004). Another feature of the innovative Johann König Gallery.

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Stefania Batoeva – So Fuzzy, So Warm, 2015

The contemporary painter develops fantastic scenarios, displayed through her works of poetic quality. The work featured is no different in which the artist lures in the viewer with familiar shapes and human images, yet no definite subject. Featured by the Mihai Nicodim Gallery.

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Sigmar Polke – “Sauberes Auto, Gute Laune” (Clean Car, High Spirits), 2002

The work by Sigmar Polke is often characterised by wit and inventiveness, with a wildly diverse exploration of mediums and materials. Known for his fascination with science and chemistry, Polke pioneered new techniques in painting and photography by manipulating chemical processes. Living in post war germany led the artist to establish Capitalist Realism, which is an ironic exploration of consumerism using imagery associated with popular culture and advertising. Featured in the show of work by Galerie Thomas Modern, Modern & Contemporary, Munich, who are one of the leading international galleries of German Expressionism and Classic Modern Art.

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William Klein – Atom Bomb Sky, New York, 1955

A marvellous picture, also used as our feature image which is certainly apt for the Armory Show, with an artist whose body of work finds its roots in his hometown of New York City. Although beginning his career as a painter working in Paris and Milan, Klein was enticed back to the US by photography and began working for Vogue. Feature in the showing by the Howard Greenberg Gallery, founded over thirty years ago in New York, and has built an impressive collection of important photographic prints.

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Vik Muniz – The Goldfish Window, after Childe Hassam (Pictures of Magazines 2), 2013

Known as a photographer and mixed-media artist, his works often re-use everyday materials for intricate and heavily layered recreations of canonical artworks. Layered appropriation is a consistent theme in his work, with a 2010 documentary, Waste Land, looking at his project in Brazil, which photographed trash-pickers as figures from emblematic paintings and looked to raise awareness for urban poverty. Featured by Ben Brown Fine Arts, who have prominently positioned themselves in the contemporary art scene.

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Janet Fish – Gloxinia, 1983

A realist painter, Janet Fish is best known for her still lifes, which feature familiar and everyday objects such as fruit, flowers and glassware. However, the central subject in her painting is the light, with what she describes ‘the complex relationship of colour and form’. Featured by the DC Moore Gallery, founded in 1995 in New York, who represent a lively mix of more than twenty contemporary artists and offer the finest in twentieth century American painting, sculpture and works on paper.

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Noemie Goudal – Observatoire V (Pyramide), 2013

The photographer Noemie Goudal creates images that occupy a space between surrealistic fantasy and modern life. Her works are known to be inspired by the old masters of black and white photography, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, she is drawn to abandoned and obsolete structures. Featured in the showing by the London gallery, Edel Assanti.

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Robert Indiana – Hope, Red/Blue, 2009

 

A central figure in the Pop Art movement, takes his inspiration from commercial signs claiming, “there are more signs than trees in America”. Proving popular at the moment, the artist was feature in our Palm Sprigs Fine Art Fair 2015 post, this time featured is this fabulous sculpture. Another work featured by Galerie Thomas Modern, Modern & Contemporary, Munich.

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Reza Aramesh – Action 143/018-collage, 2015

The Iranian born and London based artist looks to confront violence and oppression, through his politically and emotionally charged sculptures, photographs, installations and performances. The artist looks to examine how mass media portrays conflicts and the implications this has on society. This work has already been sold as the artist proves popular, but there are more works on show with the Leila Heller Gallery.

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For more information on The Armory Show 2015, you can head to .

THE ARMORY SHOW

PIERS 92 & 94

TWELFTH AVENUE AT 55TH STREET

NEW YORK CITY