Lifestyling® by Maria Gabriela Brito: Armory Arts Week in NYC, 2011

The booths on the contemporary side of The Armory Show

Another Armory week in NYC has gone by, with even more hectic activities to fill up my already very crazy, busy life. The VIP preview of the Armory Show was packed with celebrities, hedge funders and Wall Streeters and more, who converged on the most important art week in NYC.

This is a daring piece to be exibited in NYC where the economy gets mostly moved by Wall Street (but if I were a banker I'd buy it just to remind me every day that sometimes things may not go my way). It's by Russian artist Aristarkh Chernyshev.

I do like the concept of the Armory Show. It has two distinctive areas--contemporary art on the lower level (Pier 94) and modern art on the upper level (Pier 92). For the first time there was an entire section dedicated to Latin American galleries and artists. Makes me proud of my background to see how much creativity and passion gets poured in the art presented by young (and not so young) emerging artists, who were born and are influenced by the southern portion of the Americas.

One of my favorite neon pieces by Jeppe Hain. It's called "Please..." Love it!

In my opinion, this year the Armory Show could have been called the “Neon Show”. There was so much neon all over the fair (at least on the contemporary side), ranging from Tracey Emin’s provocative messages, to entire walls covered in neon words, like the piece “Please...” by the Danish artist Jeppe Hein exhibited by 303 Gallery. It was just so brilliant!

One of my favorite pieces of the fair, hands down. Acrylic on paper, nylon, thread, wood by Jacob Hashimoto.

In the Latin American section, the most impactful booth was that of my dear friend Henrique Faria. He chose a wall-length piece by Mexican artist Emilio Chapela, which was formed by hundreds of small rectangles, whose colors were taken from non-alcoholic beverages produced in Mexico. STUNNING and MIND-BLOWING to the extent that I even considered repositioning some of my art to see if I could possibly get that piece for myself! (No, I didn’t, but that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.) My first question to Henrique was to ask if Eugenio Lopez, a mega collector and sole heir of the Jumex (Mexican fruit juices empire) fortune had one of these. Obviously the answer was yes.

Emilio Chapela's wall length piece. WOW!

A closer look of Chapela's piece, this time from the side. Each of the framed documents lists all of the Mexican soft drinks from where the colors were taken. Brilliant!

On the modern section on Pier 92, the vibe was calmer, the people walking around were more corporate and the selection in general was incredibly well-curated and impressive.

A Jacques Villegle collage from 1975 all made from ripped posters.

The satellite fairs this year had a punch and an edge that I don’t recall seeing in previous years. Some of them like Volta, Scope and Pulse had an extraordinary display of colors, as well as more positive and playful messages (which obviously have a lot to do with a better economy and hopes for a better world).

Gorgeous c-print by Maria Friberg.

On the event side, I must say I had the most fun at the MoMA party. I loved the different DJs (preferred the one spinning on the lower level) and enjoyed a performance by British singer Kate Nash, who rose to the “artsy” occasion wearing stripes and a big red bow in her head. There were also cool events all over the city, including a brunch and a dinner organized by Anonymous Gallery, exploring the relationship between art and food. Many artists opened the doors of their studios to receive visitors and guests who wanted to have a better understanding of and a more intimate experience with the creative process.

View from the MoMA's party on the first floor with the garden and some of NYC's buildings on the back.

One of the bars at the MoMA with Warhol flowers on top.

Kate Nash's performance.

It was hard to make a selection of my favorite pictures. I actually posted some more in my Facebook page. If you want to see more please click here http://www.facebook.com/LifeStylingByMariaBrito. In the meantime, enjoy the images I chose for you below!