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The Armory Show’s Strongest Argument for Relevance Comes From Its Youngest Galleries

Among 242 exhibitors, it's the newer galleries and the artists they champion that give this fair its sense of purpose.

The Armory Show opened its 32nd edition yesterday (Sept. 24) at the Javits Center, somewhat later than is typical. The fair was historically New York’s main art event and a leading force in shaping the country’s culture and market, but it has since undergone multiple changes in location, branding and leadership and has arguably lost some of its splendor. What its role actually is today in an increasingly crowded global fair calendar is up in the air; after being folded into the Frieze portfolio, it still lacks the brand power of the major New York art events in May. Speaking to Observer, art economist Magnus Resch likened the Armory Show to Soho House: “It has strong brand, a convenient location, kind hosts and organizers, and something for everyone—but it’s lost its cool, and it’s no longer clear what it stands for.”

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“I think we’re an essential North American fair,” Armory Show director Kyla McMillan told Observer, adding that the fair still carries significant cultural cachet in the city. “It is incredible. I will run into people from other industries who know of the fair.” The question is whether there are enough people in New York who not only know of the fair but are ready to buy, given the Armory Show’s expansive roster of 242 galleries. Pushing the fair later into September doesn’t seem to have created enough momentum to attract collectors from abroad, or even from other states—part of a broader trend, according to advisor Adam Green: “I think the bigger reason is collectors are acquiring less overall than they were in the past, and therefore there is less urgency to attend as many fairs. If you aren’t sure you’re going to acquire a work, let alone multiple works, from a fair, you don’t feel as strong of a need to attend.”

Most of the advisors Observer asked for comment declined to speak about the Armory Show, preferring to comment instead on Independent’s inaugural edition at the Breuer, which opened the same day. Dealers, meanwhile, went from hoping more people would arrive in the afternoon to pinning their hopes on the weekend, given the first day’s relatively slow pacing. Most of the big gallery openings took place earlier in the month across Chelsea and Tribeca, and many of the bigger galleries were missing from the fair, leaving room for younger and middle-tier players to shine.

“I think we have a real opportunity to provide a broad view of what’s happening today. That is both a privilege and a real responsibility,” McMillan said. To that end, Present, the section dedicated to galleries 12 years old or younger, has expanded to 55 galleries, with almost half presenting solo booths. This made it the most navigable section of the fair; it felt almost like its own event dedicated to promising emerging artists, which might actually have made for a better fair. More accessible price points were likely behind the strong early sales reported by dealers.

Alexander Berggruen is showing the whimsical wooden sculptures of Mexican-born, Queens-based artist (and Silver Arts Project alum) Raul De Lara, just weeks after the artist unveiled his window installation at Hermès Madison Maison and opened a solo exhibition at The Contemporary Austin. His anthropomorphic plants and botanical forms that become furniture hint at a reenchantment of the mundane, while serving as metaphors for his own experience of in-betweenness as someone who immigrated to the U.S. and lived without documentation for approximately eight years before entering the DACA program. One highlight is Mis Flores / My Flowers, in which five potted flowers, each rendered in a different-colored wood, suggest the possibility of adapting and flourishing in new environments, even after being transplanted. Presented alongside the raw intuition of Madeline Peckenpaugh’s fluidly organic abstract stratifications, the gallery placed all available sculptures early in the fair. The Hermès window apparently generated multiple requests for commissions and works ahead of the fair.

Also in Present, Rajiv Menon makes its Armory Show debut with a now sold-out solo booth of paintings by Indian artist Raghav Babbar, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. The presentation coincides with his solo exhibition at the gallery’s L.A. space, which is also almost sold out. Shaped by Babbar’s experience of the Maha Kumbh, the Hindu pilgrimage in North India that in 2025 brought together more than 600 million people, the new works capture the ritual’s energy and the power of the collective. His masterful use of light allows figures to emerge almost epically as dramatic beams hit the scene like epiphanies. “It’s been thrilling to see Raghav’s work receive such a strong reception at the fair,” the dealer told Observer. “The overwhelming response to the work signals the artist’s status as one of the most important India-born Gen Z painters working today, and we are so proud to debut his work in the U.S.” Babbar’s work is in the permanent collections of several institutions worldwide, including the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, K11 Hong Kong, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice and the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum/Indigo Art Museum.

Nearby, KATES-FERRI PROJECTS had just one painting left by the afternoon from its colorful booth........

© Observer