I simply returned from a whirlwind journey to New York Metropolis and Washington, D.C. I used to be in NYC for the 2025 Armory Present, my first time to attend the honest. It’s all the time humorous to me once I discover myself so distant from Texas however nonetheless surrounded by Texans and Texpats. This journey was no totally different. On the honest I centered a lot of my consideration on Texas galleries, Texas artists, and artists that had not too long ago proven in Texas. Even once I wasn’t looking for them, Texas connections popped up: I bumped into Texas curators and randomly discovered myself chatting with artwork advisors and artists with Texas roots. I additionally reconnected with Max Anderson, the former Dallas Museum of Art director and present COO & CEO of LMI Group, the information science firm that serves the humanities and tradition sector, and President of Souls Grown Deep Basis, a company that holds a major assortment of works by Black artists from the Southern U.S.
As a first-time attendee, I’ll begin my recap of this yr’s honest with some background in regards to the Armory. In 1994, 4 New York Metropolis gallerists launched the Gramercy Worldwide Artwork Truthful as an accessible honest for rising artists and galleries. The primary few years it was hosted on the Gramercy Park Lodge, with lodge rooms serving as exhibition cubicles. 5 years later, the honest rebranded as The Armory Present when it moved venues to the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, in honor of the historic 1913 Armory Show, a groundbreaking exhibition of Trendy Artwork within the U.S.
Over the previous 30 years the honest has turn into a staple within the artwork world; as New York’s largest honest it attracts over 50,000 attendees. In 2023, Frieze acquired each The Armory Present and EXPO CHICAGO. The next yr, Nicole Berry, who had served as Government Director of The Armory for eight years, took a place on the Hammer Museum, and Kyla McMillan was named the honest’s new director.
Kyla McMillan. Photograph: Alexandra Genova/Frieze
McMillan, who had beforehand labored at galleries similar to David Zwirner and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and based the gallery and consultancy Saint George Tasks, stepped into the brand new position in July 2024, only a few months earlier than that yr’s honest. She instructed me that as a result of the honest takes almost a yr to plan, she didn’t have a lot of a hand within the growth of final yr’s Armory Present.
Now that she’s been within the position for over a yr, I requested McMillan what in regards to the honest she thought was working nicely, and the place she noticed area for development. She defined, “One of the constructive issues of the honest once I walked in final yr was the unbelievable presence of the entire nice American collectors that you simply need to see at a U.S. honest. Clearly, largely New Yorkers, but in addition from across the nation, and actually North America too, but it surely felt vital to construct on that. So we’ve been on a North American tour this yr, going to totally different areas, as a result of whereas New York is the artwork market capital, there are such a lot of different very important communities all through the U.S. that make the American collector base so important. So it was actually about assembly folks the place they’re. It’s been unbelievable to construct on that, however that basis was already in place, so it was one thing we may amplify.”
Whereas McMillan didn’t instantly contact on the present instability within the artwork market, her ideas level to an understanding that new approaches are wanted in these unsure instances. This summer time, famend gallerists Tim Blum and Adam Lindemann introduced closures, and the Art Dealers Association of America canceled the 37th edition of its fair, The Artwork Present.
McMillan went on to notice that with The Armory now within the Frieze community, the honest has the potential to be “a North American anchor.” She stated, “After all now we have galleries that come from 35 international locations and for many who come from outdoors of the U.S., and outdoors of North America extra particularly, the aim is to essentially have interaction with collectors who’re based mostly right here. However, [for those galleries that] are additionally based mostly right here, there’s nothing similar to 50-60,000 folks strolling by the doorways. There’s an unbelievable alternative for discovery.”
The Armory Present is damaged down into sections, a few of that are clearly outlined by their titles — Galleries, Solo, Not-For-Revenue — and others that current work by themes or different groupings. For instance, the Presents part options rising galleries which might be lower than 10 years outdated with showcases of solo or two-person displays. I used to be disenchanted that out of the almost 50 exhibitors on this part, there was just one Texas gallery current, Houston’s Seven Sisters. Each time I popped by the sales space on the preview day, gallerist Erin Dorn was swamped fielding questions and inquiries.
A view of the Seven Sisters sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
The sales space paired sculptors Julia Kunin and Katarzyna Przezwańska, who’re each making work in Jap Europe. Kunin’s ceramics, which fuse natural shapes of the human kind with geometric architectural constructions, make a pleasant counterpoint to Przezwańska’s extra delicate surreal works that incorporate pure supplies, together with shells, rocks, and crops.
An set up view of works by Julia Kunin and Katarzyna Przezwańska on view within the Seven Sisters sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
Dorn instructed me, “As we strategy our second yr of opening, displaying on the Armory was a major milestone. The assist and visibility have been unmatched, and it was deeply inspiring at this level in Seven Sisters’ journey.”
Whereas Presents highlights rising areas, the Focus part, a grouping of a dozen or so galleries, is centered on a theme. Current themes have included Passages, which was “impressed by the experimental spirit of the honest’s founding” and the namesake 1913 present, and Inheritances: materials and in any other case, which introduced collectively works by artists exploring materiality as a means “to manifest histories.” This yr, the Focus theme was The American South.
Jessica Bell Brown
Chosen by McMillan the theme was delivered to life by Jessica Bell Brown, the Government Director of the Institute for Up to date Artwork at Virginia Commonwealth College, who curated the part. McMillan defined the reasoning behind spotlighting the South, stating, “We take into consideration [the South] loads, even in institutional contexts, definitely extra largely culturally inside social, political, [and] historic contexts, but it surely feels particular to highlight artists and galleries of the South in a business context and convey the market dialog to the fore.” She additionally famous that the theme reveals up as a throughline of this yr’s honest, together with within the Platform, Presents, and even the primary Gallery and Solo sections.
Bart Keijsers Koning and Michelle Cortez Gonzales within the Keijsers Koning sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
The Focus part included two Texas galleries: Keijsers Koning of Dallas and Martha’s from Austin, each of which featured Texas artists. Simply two weeks earlier than the honest’s opening when one gallery dropped out of the part, Keijsers Koning was invited to exhibit. The gallery introduced works by Dallas-based sculptor Tamara Johnson and Fort Price-based interdisciplinary artist Michelle Cortez Gonzales.
Works by Tamara Johnson on view within the Keijsers Koning sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
Johnson exhibited hyperrealistic works from throughout her oeuvre, together with a seeming chain-link fence gate (made out of PVC pipe, rope, resin, and different supplies), a solid pewter saltine cracker, and a colander (made out of hydrocal gypsum, fiberglass, and different supplies). Her playful and surprising sculptures had attendees doing a double-take, significantly Ceaselessly Blue Tape #2, a 2023 piece made from Tyvek and gouache, that appeared as if the gallerist left a remnant from putting in the sales space. Cortez Gonzalez’s blended media work incorporate oil paint and lace, typically on canvas and different instances with the lace because the grounding materials. Her layered items converse to reminiscence and household historical past, drawing imagery from outdated household pictures.
Bart Keijsers Koning instructed me, “It was vital to me to point out these two voices as a result of I felt they each embody a narrative of Southern America that isn’t seen sufficient on a stage inside the artwork world. Two females coping with their heritage and presenting a story from inside the South/Texas.”
Ricky Morales and Meredith Williams in Martha’s sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
Close by, the Austin-based gallery Martha’s confirmed a handful of works by RF.Alvarez, whose sensual figurative work illustrate queerness in Southern scenes. The sales space’s central piece, We’re Nonetheless Right here! references Paul Cadmus’ The Fleet’s In! (1934), a piece censored by the U.S. Navy for its depiction of queerness. Alvarez’s scene performs out in a honky-tonk. Meredith Williams, Proprietor and Operations Supervisor of Martha’s instructed me that on the finish of the honest’s preview day the sales space had virtually utterly offered out. By the top of the honest, every of the six items had been bought.
Moreover, Alvarez was named the winner of Delfina Basis Artist Residency Prize, considered one of three prizes awarded as a part of the honest. The prize is supported by Suzanne McFayden and the Delfina Basis’s Community of North America Patrons and is granted to artists from or based mostly in a Southern state exhibiting with a gallery within the Focus part. As its winner, Alvarez will take part in a 12-week residency in London in 2026.
Relating to the award, Alvarez instructed me, “I’m over the moon. The Delfina Basis — and its give attention to analysis and artistic dialogues — can be an unbelievable alternative to each sharpen my follow and discover new avenues of creation. I’m , for instance, to see how the themes and motifs of my work will be explored past portray, past static picture. I feel London can be my probability to see how that manifests.”
An set up view of works by Baldwin Lee on the Howard Greenberg Gallery sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
I used to be glad to see Texas galleries and Texas artists represented within the Focus part, however I additionally loved the broader investigation of the thought of “the American South.” Although among the galleries listed within the part have been from locations like New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Montréal, and Lima, Peru, most of them exhibited works by artists who have been born in or are presently residing within the Southern U.S.
Works by Aineki Traverso on view within the Wolfgang Gallery sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
Different galleries offered artists from the World South, reminding that whereas folks within the U.S. defer to utilizing “American” as an identifier, to many residing in South America, Central America, and even different elements of North America, the time period “American” or “Americano” has a broader that means. Whereas I agree that this broader definition is vital to acknowledge, extra illustration of galleries based mostly within the Southern U.S. may have introduced an extra highlight to tendencies rising within the area.
Works by Santiago Yahuarcani on view within the Disaster Galería sales space at The Armory Present, 2025
An set up view of Gee’s Bend quilts on view within the Platform part of The Armory Present, 2025
This yr’s Platform part, which showcased large-scale sculptures and installations, was curated by Raina Lampkins-Fielder, the Chief Curator of Souls Grown Deep Basis. After all Gee’s Bend quilts, from the Basis’s assortment, took middle stage, displayed from wires as in the event that they have been hanging on a clothesline. Moreover, a number of works by Thornton Dial, additionally a part of the Basis’s assortment, had a big presence within the part. Past items from Souls Grown Deep have been works by Allison Janae Hamilton (Marianne Boesky Gallery) and Simon Benjamin (Patron).
An set up within the Perform part of The Armory Present, 2025
New to this yr’s honest was the Perform part, curated by Ebony L. Haynes, Senior Director at David Zwirner and 52 Walker, which, in response to the Armory’s web site, highlights how artists “have interaction with and puncture the tenants of design.” In an interview on the honest’s web site, Haynes famous the will to “blur or co-mingle” artwork and design, which are sometimes thought of on a binary of “excessive” and “low” artwork, respectively. Of the curatorial choices on this part, she additional defined, “Chairs refuse to be sat on, textiles insist on their sculptural presence, and objects slip between perform and uselessness. On this back-and-forth, design punctures artwork with the language of the on a regular basis, whereas artwork punctures design by stripping it of use.”
Like most gala’s, the 2025 Armory had loads happening. There have been spectacular standouts, acquainted favorites, and questionable decisions. Greater than 230 exhibitors have been featured on this yr’s honest, together with over 70 new galleries that had by no means participated earlier than and greater than 20 exhibitors who’ve returned after taking a hiatus from the occasion. Total, the honest was spectacular in its depth, illustration, and considerate curation.
Editor’s be aware: The writer’s journey bills and lodging have been partly backed by The Armory Present.
