THE ARMORY SHOW 2025

A key highlight is a luminous 1981 canvas by Alice Baber, The Golden Circle of the Jaguar, showcasing her signature interplay of elliptical forms and atmospheric colour. A key figure within second-generation Abstract Expressionism, Baber developed a vibrant visual language informed by sound, movement, and light — positioning her among the few women of her era to gain international recognition in a male-dominated field. Her work continues to resonate today, speaking to a renewed institutional interest in overlooked modernist painters.

A series of self-portraits by Derek Boshier reflect the late artist’s lifelong interrogation of image, identity, and mythmaking. From an intimate group of monochromatic ink drawings, dating to the late 1980s, to his dynamic late-career canvas Self-Portrait: (Circa 1962) (2022), these works chart Boshier’s evolving visual vocabulary — one shaped by his transatlantic career and critical eye on consumer culture. Boshier’s legacy continues to be honoured through institutional acquisitions and international exhibitions paying tribute to his enduring influence.The presentation also includes a rare work by Pauline Boty, a founding figure of British Pop. Untitled (red yellow blue abstract) (1961) is one of only four abstract paintings Boty created in her lifetime. Consisting of brightly coloured geometric shapes, this work embodies the bold optimism and vigor that defined postwar Britain — an energy which electrified Boty and her Pop contemporaries, leading them to produce some of the most important works of the Twentieth Century. Boty’s practice, long under-recognised due to her early passing, has recently been celebrated in major exhibitions at Tate Modern and Gazelli Art House, reaffirming her pivotal role in shaping Pop sensibilities.

Jann Haworth — a central figure in British and American Pop — is also represented through works that critique and reframe representation, often through a feminist lens. From the layered textile assemblage She Was Not There (2023) to the mixed-media tableau Minnie Takes Up Painting (2009) which blends painting, vinyl plastic and wood, Haworth’s practice continues to challenge the conventions of material and narrative. As co-creator of the iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover and a key innovator of soft sculpture, she continues to exhibit globally, including recent shows at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Pallant House, Chichester, and mumok, Vienna.

Both Boty and Haworth are also currently featured in Pop Models: Women in European Pop Art at Museum MORE in Grossel, the Netherlands — a timely institutional show that reexamines their enduring influence within and beyond the Pop canon.

Completing the presentation are several key pieces by Harold Cohen, the visionary artist and programmer behind AARON — one of the earliest AI systems for artmaking. A large-scale oil portrait from 1993 is shown alongside early AARON-generated works, including a 1984 dye-and-ink drawing and a vibrant piece from Cohen’s Painting Machine series. These works trace the artist’s evolution from traditional painting to pioneering computer-generated forms, positioning him as a foundational figure in the history of generative art. A Painting Machine piece from the same series is currently on view at M+ in Hong Kong as part of Making It Matter: The Foundational Role of Digital Art, further underscoring the enduring institutional interest in his legacy. Recent recognition also includes exhibitions at Tate Modern, London, LACMA, Los Angeles, and the Whitney Museum, New York.

This presentation reflects Gazelli Art House’s continued dedication to artists who have pushed the boundaries of their medium, forging new visual languages that resonate across time, discipline, and cultural context.