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9 Incredible Objects From Armory Art Fair Week 2020

03.25.20 | By
9 Incredible Objects From Armory Art Fair Week 2020

Earlier in March, New York City hosted the annual “Armory Week”, with thousands of contemporary artworks occupying multiple massive art fairs across the city. Design Milk ran through 6 of the biggest art fairs to find the most creative and eye-catching artworks on view. Here’s a recap of our “Top 9”, in the order of their discovery.

Jacob Hashimoto, The Windy Echo of Some Half Remembered Rage I, 2020

Jacob Hashimoto, Bound to an Ever Darkening Sun, 2020

Jacob Hashimoto’s 3D wall sculptures are composed of countless kite-like paper collages that form electrifying compositions that shift and change from every angle. Presented by Anglim Gilbert Gallery from San Francisco, at The ADAA Art Show.

Andrea Chung, VEX VIII, 2020

Andrea Chung, VEX VII, 2020

Andrea Chung at The Armory Show, Klowden Mann Gallery

Andrea Chung’s small collages were the break-out hit of the biggest fair in New York City. Many viewers discussed them as “reverse voodoo dolls” that bring power to their subjects. Presented by Klowden Mann Gallery from Culver City, at The Armory Show.

Tim Youd, Elizabeth Bishop’s The Complete Poems: 1927 – 1979, 2018

Tim Youd, Elizabeth Bishop’s The Complete Poems: 1927 – 1979, 2018 (detail)

Tim Youd performing ‘The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath’

Artist Tim Youd sat with unflinching focus, using a typewriter to transcribe every word of an entire book onto one piece of paper (it’s actually two pieces of paper back-to-back, so when complete they can be displayed in a frame to reference an open book) constantly re-feeding the same sheet through the typewriter. The result obliterates the paper yet somehow holds the time and power of its source material. Presented by Cristin Tierney Gallery from New York, at The Armory Show.

Clementine Keith-Roach, Kinship, 2020

Clementine Keith-Roach, Kinship, 2020 (detail)

Clementine Keith-Roach’s vessels seem to capture an object and its making simultaneously. Additionally, the subtle interactions between the various hands added a complex and strong emotional narrative. Presented by P.P.O.W. Gallery from New York, at Independent Art Fair.

Robert Bittenbender, Hecuba Hamilton, 2020

Robert Bittenbender, Hecuba Hamilton, 2020 (detail)

Robert Bittenbender’s intense wall sculptures are nothing short of contained explosions. Countless bits of “trash” are held together with a tangle of zip-ties and safety pins. Their strangeness will draw you nearer, and their sheer energy will keep you there. Presented by LOMEX Gallery from New York, at Independent Art Fair.

Karen Margolis, Anacoluthia, 2020

Karen Margolis, Anacoluthia, 2020 (detail)

Karen Margolis creates delicate yet powerful works on paper that are cut, painted, burned, and stitched. These beautiful artworks feel like they’re growing and dissolving before your very eyes. Presented by Foley Gallery from New York, at Volta Art Fair.

Michael A. Robinson, The Origin of Ideas, 2013

Michael A. Robinson, The Origin of Ideas, 2013 (detail)

Resembling an inside-out star (overloaded with power cords), Michael A. Robinson’s impressive lamp sculpture “The Origin of Ideas” was a show-stopper at the dynamic hallway exhibition curated by Tansy Xiao at “SPRING/BREAK” – an art fair that focuses on curators rather than galleries.

Chambliss Giobbi, The World Changed, 2019, melted children’s crayons

Chambliss Giobbi, The World Changed, 2019

Chambliss Giobbi, detail of installation at SPRING/BREAK

Also a favorite at SPRING/BREAK was artist Chambliss Giobbi who creates tiny replicas of famous paintings using melted children’s crayons!!! What?!!! The artist was in the room to discuss process – which involved mixing a material that wasn’t intended to be color-mixed with that level of precision, and then painting the unfriendly wax with a brush onto these tiny canvases, most of them only 4-inches square. Curated by Danielle Sweet at SPRING/BREAK.

Jen Pack, The Feral Colors Sparkle in Laughter, 2020

Jen Pack, The Feral Colors Sparkle in Laughter, 2020

Jen Pack, The Feral Colors Sparkle in Laughter, 2020 (reverse side)

Artist Jen Pack combines thin lines of colored pencils with real thread (sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference) that she stitches on translucent vellum. The biggest surprise is the back (see above)! The stitched drawings are framed with glass on the front AND back which allows light to pass though them even when on the wall, to give the paper a ghostly glow. Thank you Fritz Gallery for taking this one off the wall for us to see! Presented by Fritz Gallery from Santa Fe at Art on Paper.

Dike Blair, Windex, 2017

That officially wraps our “Top 9” but we can’t help giving an “honorable mention” to this suspicious bottle of Windex. There was a special room at Independent Art Fair that was curated by Object & Thing. Among a number of great design objects was this SUPER REALISTIC sculpture of Windex made out of GLASS by artist Dike Blair. His equally charming paintings were elsewhere in the fair, presented by Karma Gallery from New York.

It’s always difficult to narrow the hundreds of incredible artworks down to the top 9, so please check out the links to all the fairs above and add them to your calendar for next year. I’m already looking forward to it.

Photos by © David Behringer.

David Behringer visits over 200 galleries every month to uncover and share the most exciting contemporary art in New York today. Subscribe to his exclusive weekly newsletter at www.thetwopercent.com and learn about his private gallery tours. And be sure to check out his YouTube.