What to See at The Armory Show — 9 Striking Design Installations to Catch at New York's Biggest Art Fair
Launching today, the 30th edition of the influential NYC showcase presents more than 235 galleries from 35 countries. Here's what you shouldn't miss
By Gilda Bruno
6 September 2024
A new chapter has just begun for The Armory Show, New York City's largest art fair, which returns to Manhattan's Javits Center for the fourth consecutive year today through Sunday, September 8. Now part of the London and New York-based contemporary art media and events publisher Frieze, the influential showcase's 30th edition marks its debut under the leadership of the newly appointed Fair Director, Kyla McMillan. As global and disruptive as it has ever been, this year's Armory Show gathers an inspiring selection of galleries from around the world, representing over 235 creative platforms and 35 different countries across its Galleries, Solo, Focus, Presents, Platform, and Not-for-Profit sections.
With interdisciplinary talks scattered throughout its 3-day run and an off-site initiative bringing performance works, site-specific installations, and monumental sculptures across the city, including at US Open, the event immerses visitors in New York's cultural turmoil, predicting future trends and spotlighting the best — and the next — of today's artists. To help you navigate its extensive art and design exhibition program, I have selected 9 experimental design projects whose playfully inventive aesthetic will amuse the art lover, the home decorator, and the casual flaneur alike. Catch them all below.
3. GOYA CONTEMPORARY: JOYCE J. SCOTT
Joyce J. Scott, Garden Ensconced, 2024
Javitz Center
429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001, United States
I am always in awe of artists who manage to convey strong messages through brightly colored, eye-catching work — and James J. Scott is no exception. At The Armory Show, the African-American polymath (yes, she is an artist, sculptor, quilter, performer, installation artist, and print-maker, as well as working as a lecturer and educator) presents an evocative tapestry with a subtle meaning. Realized with countless threads of vibrant fabric, Garden Ensconced (2024) captivates viewers by placing them in front of a myriad of cell-shaped eyes and mysterious creatures. For Scott, who grew up in a family of makers that turned to the crafting of functional objects as a "form of resistance to enslavement, sharecropping, migration, and segregation", each one of her works and the faces contained in it amplify the histories of her ancestors. Her practice manifests an "interplay of materials, memory, spirit, and truth-telling".