Two guests closely examine artworks at The Armory Show in New York. Image courtesy of Roberto Chamorro for The Armory Show

ART NEWS

Art business watchers  optimistic that 2015 Armory show will break art sales record

Paula Hayes, Gazing Globes, 2015 ( detail installation view in Madison Square Park, New York). Polycarbonate spheres and mixed media, 3 feet to 6 feet high. Photo: Yasunori Matsui. Courtesy the artist and Salon 94, New York

BY KAZAD

NEW YORK, NY– The Armory Show, the leading fair for modern and contemporary art, opened Thursday at the Pier 92 and 94 along the Hudson River in New York. As expected, many of the art galleries came out with the best of best to attract prospective clients. From all indications, this year’s Armory Show will not only be an outstanding edition of this annual art event, but also generate a lot of art sales. Based on the amount of art sales recoded just at the VIP program opening, many in the art business are optimistic that the 2015 Armory show might break art sales record. From sculptures, to paintings and new media art, expectations are high for record breaking art prices.

Featuring more 199 galleries drawn from 28 countries, the Armory show is an international art market that is a must for art collectors who what to collect the best of art. This is the 16th edition of the Armory show. Beyond the sale of art works, the Armory show also features art talks, discussions and interaction among art professionals. These events bring together artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world to New York to celebrate everything art. In celebration of this year’s Armory Show, important exhibitions are been held across New York. Hosted by museums and galleries, the shows not only add to the stature of the art event, but also gives it credence. Even before the Armory Show opened, some of the gallery and museum shows had been attracting art visitors. The art shows help foster the Armory Show’s mission which is to “continue to enrich the public through the promotion of New York’s exceptional arts-related events.” While there are many art events around New York to enjoy during this year’s Armory Art week, here are just five of them.

Vision Quest Vision Quest,on view at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), 80 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY 1127 In Vision Quest, artists Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski and Sheena Rose use works on paper, hand-drawn animations and mixed-media works to recount their experiences and create new stories of voyages through time and space. Curated by Isissa Komada-John, the collection of whimsical, visual tales of powerful female protagonists on earthly and otherworldly adventures are a delight to all those who have seen the works of these artists. Exploring their own invented visual languages, the satirists document women’s stories in ways that diverge from dominant narratives of female experience.

Madame Cézanne

Madame Cézanne on view through March 15, 2015 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906). Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair (Madame Cézanne in a Striped Dress) (detail), ca. 1877. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bequest of Robert Treat Paine, 2nd

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Madame Cézanne. This is the first exhibition of paintings, drawings, and watercolors by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) focused on Hortense Fiquet (1850–1922). Fiquet is Cézanne’s most painted model. The exhibition traces Cézanne’s lifelong attachment to this woman who profoundly influenced his portrait practice for more than two decades. Fiquet was not just Cézanne’s model, she was also his wife, and the mother of his son, Paul. Ironically, she was not well received by either Cézanne’s family or his friends.

Paula Hayes: Gazing Globes

Paula Hayes: Gazing Globes on view through April 19, 2015 at Madison Square Park Conservancy, Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue, NYC

The first outdoor sculpture exhibition by artist and designer Paula Hayes’s (American, b. 1958) in New York City, is currently on view in Madison Square Park. Titled Gazing Globes, the exhibition features eighteen transparent polycarbonate spheres that hold the remnants of contemporary culture. With the this new crystal balls sculptures, Hayes summons the present and predict the future. Presented by Mad. Sq. Art, Madison Square Park Conservancy’s free contemporary art program, Gazing Globes is free and open to the public during Park open hours

Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream

Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, on view through March 28, 2015 at Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd Street, NYC

Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, Instructions for a Story- 2014. Image courtesy of Society of Illustrators

Winsor McCay Sunday newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland is his most enduring creation. A celebrated cartoonist considered by many as the greatest cartoonist of all time, McCay’ s cartoons touched many people because of their inventiveness. The Land of Wonderful Dreams details the adventures of its titular character. The amazing composition and brilliant drawings of this early twentieth century cartoons is considered one of the most inventive and visually stunning works of American art. More than a century later, McCay’ s richness, draftsmanship, imagination, and fantastic storytelling continues to be the highest standard many cartoonists aspire to attain.

On the Edge of Fusion

On the Edge of Fusion, on view through March 6, 2015 at West Harlem Art Fund Mist Harlem, 46 West 116th Street between Lenox and 5th Avenue, NYC

Twins with Logo. Image courtesy of West Harlem Art Fund

On the Edge of Fusion is one of the main features of this year’s Armory Show. Put together by the West Harlem Art Fund and Friends On the Edge of Fusion is a digital salon with installations in Harlem at MIST. This digital platform allows participants experience digital art and digitally-based films at home or at MIST. Participants have the opportunity to talk and share their opinions with others.

Participating artists include Lady K Fever, Iliana Emilia Garcia, Maddie Irmen, David Joly, Yuon Kibaik, Ellen Maynard, John Michael Reefer, Dianne Smith, and Vaughn Spann. Socially Relevant Film Festival, Producers Rico Washington and Shino Yanagawa Producers of Finding Dante are participating curator. For maximum experience, everyone is expected to bring their own smartphone, tablets or laptop to view films & digital art works.

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