The Armory Show, held in New York City, continues to showcase a diverse range of contemporary artists, presenting innovative works that span across mediums, themes, and cultural backgrounds.
Among the notable exhibitors is Karl Haendel at Vielmetter Los Angeles (Booth 223), whose precise graphite drawings offer a blend of technical skill and wit. Highlighted by a life-size knight in armor rendered in shimmering pencil, his work contrasts with a charming defensive palisade featuring stick-figure doodles by his young daughter.
At Seven Sisters (Booth 234), the late Stan Dann (1931–2013) is featured posthumously with his distinctive wooden reliefs. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area after a career in advertising, Dann's brightly colored, bulbous puzzle-like sculptures depict still lifes, landscapes, and abstract compositions that evoke a surreal, cartoonish quality.
Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (Booth 240) presents Nikoleta Sekulovic, a Rome-born artist with German and Montenegrin heritage. Sekulovic’s large-scale portraits of historical women, including a vivid depiction of novelist Daphne du Maurier, combine elements reminiscent of German Expressionism with bold brushwork that captures the viewer’s attention through their intensity and narrative depth.
P420 (Booth 120) showcases Shafei Xia, a China-born artist based in Bologna, Italy. Xia’s watercolors invoke European Chinoiserie with a contemporary twist, including a large erotic piece and a singular ceramic breast displayed on the wall, blending humor and cultural commentary within her work.
Minako Iwamura, represented by JDJ (Booth P21), presents oil paintings that defy easy categorization. Born in Sydney and residing in Brooklyn, her abstract forms evoke ambiguous imagery—from floral and human anatomy to psychedelic patterns—marked by a painterly effect that reveals no visible brushstrokes.
At Adegbola Gallery (Booth P35), Nigerian and London-based Oluwasemilore Delano’s works draw from photographs taken inside a Lagos abattoir. Her oil and charcoal portraits focus on fragmented animal parts, mounted on plywood frequently studded with nails, engaging with themes of vulnerability and reflection on human and animal interconnectedness.
The Armory’s “Platform” section includes Canadian artist Sandra Brewster, also featured in Southern Guild’s group presentation (Booth 210). Brewster’s “Make Trouble” (2024) uses gel transfer techniques to overlay family photographs onto wood panels, inviting contemplation on memory and identity through visual imperfections that resonate with her Black diasporic experience.
Hannah Traore Gallery (Booth P20) presents Ghanaian British artist and model Kesewa Aboah, who creates abstracted self-portraits by etching magnesium printing plates. The resulting images combine corporeal forms with a topographical quality, producing a tension between physical presence and material decay.
Marc Straus Gallery (Booth 304) exhibits Marie Watt, a member of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation. Her piece “Homage to the Square (Precursor)” (2026) reinterprets Joseph Albers’s geometric abstraction through Native American materials such as glass beads and tin jingles, emphasizing indigenous artistic traditions within a contemporary framework.
Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (Booth AS2) features Haitian Canadian artist Manuel Mathieu, recognized for his participation in the Venice Biennale. His work “Shrhine” (2025) incorporates fabric and ceramic objects forming a ritualistic structure. Central to the installation is a bowl emitting a subtle fragrance, underscoring the importance of scent in communal and spiritual practices.
Collectively, these artists represent a broad spectrum of perspectives and methodologies, underscoring The Armory Show’s commitment to presenting a dynamic, globally engaged contemporary art scene.