Armory Show 2024 Receipts: Smashed Ceramic, Lasting Hope
The Armory Show, 2024. Courtesy The Armory Show.
The Armory Show comes at an intriguing juncture, under the new leadership of director Kyla McMillan following its recent acquisition by Frieze. Only time will reveal how these changes will impact New York‘s longest-running art fair, but one thing was clear: gallerists were optimistic at this edition.
They were hopeful that institutional acquisitions would come through, that potential buyers would follow up after measuring their walls, and that the looming concerns of a faltering market would resolve themselves.
Despite a luke-warm start, the show fared decently well despite the volatility of the art market this past year.
Top sales included a Yayoi Kusama painting for U.S. $800,000 at Victoria Miro, along with five editions of an Isaac Julien video installation, which sold in the range of $350,000 to $450,000. Berry Campbell sold the Lynne Drexler painting Autumn Twilight (1977) for $450,000. Buchmann Galerie placed a Tony Cragg sculpture for around $180,000, and Templon sold a canvas work from Chiharu Shiota for €120,000.
New York hard hitters like 303 Gallery sold three Doug Aitken lightbox works ranging between $150,000 to $275,000 each, two works by Rob Pruitt at $175,000 each, works by Sam Falls in the range of $70,000 to $90,000 each, a painting by Hans-Peter Feldmann for €70,000, three works by Jeppe Hein for $45,000 each, and a sculpture by Alicja Kwade for €30,000.
Kasmin placed several major paintings including Robert Motherwell‘s Apse (1980–1984) for $825,000 and Walton Ford‘s The Singer Tract (2023) for $750,000, as well as works by artists including Sara Anstis, Jan-Ole Schiemann, and Emil Sands for prices between $16,000 and $35,000.
Another great New York gallery, James Cohan sold two acrylic paintings by Trenton Doyle Hancock for $80,000 each, and two paintings by Eamon Ore-Giron for $50,000 each. They also placed an embroidered work from Jordan Nassar for $34,000.
San Francisco‘s Jessica Silverman sold Rupy C. Tut’s diptych Archipelago (2024) for $75,000 and a multi-panel work by Sadie Barnette for $70,000. The gallery also placed both of Julie Buffalohead‘s large-scale oil paintings: The Rescue Party (2024) and Lady Liberty (2024) for $65,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Among galleries from Asia, Tang Contemporary Art placed an Ai Weiwei bronze casting for $450,000 (a favourite among American collectors, according to one gallery rep), a painting by Jonas Burgert for $90,000, two oil paintings by Zhu Jinshi for $80,000 and a painting by Suntur for $22,000.
New Delhi‘s Nature Morte placed an oil painting by Tanya Goel which sold for between $100,000 and $120,000. They also sold a work by Theo Pinto in the range of $15,000 to $18,000, and a laser etching by Martand Khosla for $5,000 to $8,000.
The Armory’s ability to attract a crowd of interested buyers was evident, further emphasised by the presence of returning collectors and institutional curators (Stefanie Hessler, Natalie Bell, and Stefano Basilico, among others).
A representative from Carl Freedman Gallery, which featured a solo presentation of Billy Childish‘s serene large-scale landscape paintings, expressed enthusiasm about returning to the fair and to their American clientele. They sold about 70% of the booth on their first day.
Other strong and refreshing solo gallery presentations highlighted a commitment to broadening the conversation and market for artists. Notable examples included Tschabalala Self‘s work at Two Palms, the result of a 2.5-year collaboration with the artist; Natvar Bhavsar‘s elegant display at DAG; Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali’s presentation at Velvet Blue; and Hales’ exhibition of dense yet minimal paintings by New Mexico-based artist Jordan Ann Craig.
Younger galleries, such as New York-and Buenos Aires-based Praxis—making their debut at the fair—made a strong impression with Simonette Quamina’s haunting, large-scale collage prints, which completely sold out by the end of the first day of VIP sales.
The $25,000 Pommery Prize for a large-scale work in the Platform section went to Bahamian artist Anina Major for her artwork The Landing, which was presented by Tern Gallery (Nassau). Mrs. (New York) won the TPC Art Finance Presents Prize for their presentation of Alexandra Barth in the Presents, while the Sauer Artist Prize went to Oliver Herring at BANK (Shanghai).
In the Focus section, Rodrigo Valenzuela‘s distinctive presentation of ceramics and photographs, priced between $7,000 and $9,000, stood out for its excellent display. Unfortunately, one of the ceramic pieces was accidentally shattered into hundreds of fragments when a visitor’s bag knocked it to the ground.
Despite that minor moment of American carnage, the atmosphere at the fair was vibrant, people were happy to be there, and many will surely return despite the programming clash with Frieze Seoul that has already lured away many of the top-tier galleries. —[O]
Main image: The Armory Show, 2024. Courtesy The Armory Show.
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