Each September, Armory Week transforms New York into the center of the art world, with fairs, exhibitions, and special projects unfolding across the city. From major international showcases to more intimate, experimental gatherings, the week offers endless ways to experience new voices and landmark presentations. Here’s what’s on industry insiders’ radars for Armory Week 2025.
Rachel Cole, Principal & Founder, Rachel Cole Art Advisory
This Armory week, I’m especially looking forward to two exhibitions that feel both timely and deeply moving. At Hauser & Wirth, María Berrío’s Soliloquy of the Wounded Earth is a breathtaking return from her last show in 2017. Her layered collages of watercolor and Japanese paper are lush, poetic, and filled with mythic narratives that feel both familiar and otherworldly. They encourage viewing at a slower pace— each detail unfolding the longer you spend with them.
María Berrío, Soliloquy of the Wounded Earth, 2025
On the other hand, Sasha Gordon’s Haze at David Zwirner brings such a bold, electric energy. Her hyperreal self-portraits are technically masterful and emotionally raw, exploring identity and storytelling in ways that feel almost cinematic. Together, these shows highlight two very different but equally powerful approaches to contemporary figurative painting, and I think they capture the spirit of discovery and dialogue that makes Armory week so special this year!
Sasha Gordon, It Was Still Far Away, 2024 (detail)
Maria May, Senior Vice President, Resnicow and Associates
I’m really looking forward to the Souls Grown Deep (SGD) presentation at The Armory Show. This is SGD’s first showing at an art fair and the first time a nonprofit has curated the Platform section, so it’s a lot of exciting firsts – and really important to center these artists at the fair. The nonprofit will curate My Art is the Evidence of My Freedom, a display of works by celebrated Black artists of the American South in The Armory Show’s 2025 Platform section. The display provides a snapshot of SGD’s collection, celebrating the work of Black artists who lived in—and whose artistic practices were informed by—the American South, including paintings, assemblages, and sculptures by Thornton Dial, Mary T. Smith, Joe Minter, and Lonnie Holley, as well as textile works by Gee’s Bend quilters Mary Lee Bendolph and Essie Bendolph Pettway, among others. The works on display at The Armory Show will be available for acquisition, with revenue supporting SGD’s mission of advancing recognition and visibility of the work of Black Southern artists through a variety of programs, and a resale royalty award directly benefiting living artists.
Thornton Dial, Memories of the Ladies that Gave Us the Good Life, 2004, Tin, carpet, wood, glove, washbasin, scrub brush, yard ornament, motor-oil bottle, paint brush, clothing, wire, enamel, and spray paint on wood, 98 1/2 x 82 x 10 1/2 in. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/ Pitkin Studio, Courtesy Souls Grown Deep © Estate of Thornton Dial / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Mary Lee Bendolph, Blocks, strips, and strings, 2006, Cotton, 75 x 79 in. Photograph: Stephen Pitkin/ Pitkin Studio, Courtesy Souls Grown Deep © Mary Lee Bendolph / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
John Melick, Founder, Blue Medium
The Armory Week kicks off a packed fall calendar for galleries and museums in NYC. We have eight major openings in late September/early October this year, but there are two client exhibitions you should check out during the big week in question:
The first is Expressive Bodies at the Liu Shiming Art Foundation, spotlighting the work of eleven MFA students and recent graduates from institutions that partner in the Liu Shiming Scholarship Program. Carrying on the legacy of Chinese artist Liu Shiming, their work expresses the potential of sculpture to consider the human body through artistic gestures, materials, and narratives.
Across town, Trellis Art Fund grantee Suzanne Bocanegra will host Honor, an Artist Lecture; one of her trademark artist lectures based on a 16th-century tapestry at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled “Honor”. Bocanegra’s lectures are partly intensely personal memoirs and partly exhaustively researched cultural essays. The lecture/performance will be held on select days between September 3rd and September 14th at The Performing Garage in SoHo, so if you want to attend, book a time to stop by after your visit to the Armory Show.
Some personal side notes: Don’t forget Independent Art Fair at Casa Cipriani Downtown. I dig the manageable scale (30+ galleries), set up and flow of this fair. And as a fan of Alex Sewell’s work, visit Totah Gallery on Friday, September 5th for the opening of Diorama.
Hydrate...
Hunter Braithwaite, Senior Vice President, Cultural Counsel
Armory Week, like New York itself, is a choose your own adventure. And my adventures usually begin and end with painting. At the fair I’m excited about James Fuentes, whose group presentation includes New York legend Pat Lipsky and a personal fav John McAllister, both of whom will have solos with the gallery this fall, and ILY2, who will show Adrianne Rubinstein.
Margaux Ogden, “Bathers (Quinacridone Red, Pyrrole Red, Cadmium Yellow, India Yellow Hue & Permanent Green),” 2025, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 60 inches
Around town I’m excited to see Margaux Ogden at Embajada’s NADA takeover (come to the VIP opening September 3rd, 6-9pm), Shara Hughes’s new landscapes at Kordansky, and Derek Franklin’s paintings on concrete at Freight and Volume.
Also, don’t miss Armory Spotlight winner Storefront for Art and Architecture. As a proud board member, this is a true highlight!
Ellie Hayworth Murray, Founder, Hayworth Co.
The Armory Show remains a bellwether for the global art market, and this year we’re tracing its pulse through the lens of Miami’s rising influence. We’re especially eager to see Andrew Reed Gallery debut with new works by Cornelius Tulloch, a Bakehouse Art Complex resident artist whose practice embodies the cultural fluidity of South Florida. With Miami’s creative voices increasingly present on the New York stage, we’re energized by the ways these exchanges are reshaping the art world’s center of gravity. We'll also be sure to catch Vidar Logi’s UV prints on photo paper produced in collaboration with our friends at Powerhouse Arts. Beyond art fair aisles, alternative models like Duet at WSA organized by Kyle DeWoody and Zoë Lukov signal fresh ways of shaping dialogue between artists and galleries. While there, we'll say hello to our friends at Dio Horia Gallery while ogling new works by all-time favorite Maja Djordjevic.
Cornelius Tulloch, “Garifuna,” 2025. Oil on canvas, mixed media collage. 72 x 54 inches. Courtesy of the Andrew Reed Gallery.
Fair Highlights
Armory Show, September 5-7, Javits Center
Armory Show
The Armory Show has been a cornerstone of New York’s cultural calendar since 1994, ushering in the city’s fall art season with a showcase of premier international galleries. Now held at the Javits Center, the fair brings together modern and contemporary works across painting, sculpture, photography, and new media. For collectors and art lovers alike, it remains one of the most influential fairs in the world.
Art on Paper, September 4-7, Pier 36
Art on Paper
Dedicated entirely to the medium of paper, Art on Paper returns to Pier 36 for its 11th edition. The fair highlights the versatility of the material through a wide range of contemporary practices, from photography and drawing to large-scale installations. Collectors and newcomers alike will find both fresh discoveries and innovative approaches that expand the boundaries of paper-based art.
COLLECTIBLE New York, September 4-7, Water Street Projects WSA
Henri Judin, Pehku Daybed
After a successful New York debut, COLLECTIBLE returns this fall with an expanded edition at the dramatic WSA building in Lower Manhattan. Founded in Brussels, the fair is devoted to contemporary collectible design, uniting galleries, studios, and independent makers who push the limits of form and function. The striking industrial space, with sweeping views of the East River and beyond, sets the stage for a bold presentation of experimental furniture, objects, and design concepts. By bridging European and American perspectives, COLLECTIBLE continues to establish itself as a leading platform at the intersection of art and design.
