The Art Show at Park Avenue Armory Returns to a Sparse Audience

Who visits the Art Show at Park Avenue Armory — the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA)’s annual fair? On Thursday night, the apparent answer was a thin crowd of dealers, collectors, artists, gallerists, and their family members and spouses. It brought to mind a truism I recently heard a gallerist make that “the New York City art world’s dirty little secret is that it’s one of the most provincial scenes in the world” — a crying shame, because there was some phenomenal art on view, curated and exhibited in a way that was refreshingly pleasant and exciting.

A record number of exhibitors are at the fair this year, 78, with a record number of solo presentations at 55. Despite this, virtually everyone remarked on how quiet the fair was, with some reveling in this fact and others casting it plainly as a failure.

auction of Paul Allen’s expansive collection.

“If I was a dealer exhibiting right now, I wouldn’t be too excited about this,” Randall said.

David Sheldon, an artist who identified himself as a “lifer” at ADAA’s show, has consistently returned for over two decades. He attends to “be inspired” and “get ideas” and never buys. Standing before a table displaying sculptural assemblages of found materials by Cuban artist Ricardo Brey, Sheldon looked spellbound. “There are moments when I look at something and I think, ‘I can do that. I’ve done that.’ I look at this, and I know: I could never do it.” 

Melancholically, he added: “I wish I could.”

Comparing the ADAA’s fair to other ones, he pointed out the obvious: that “it’s not quite as garish.”

“Obviously, there are buckets of champagne going around,” he requisitely noted as a cart wheeled by, “but it’s not a splash.” Indeed, for the duration of the evening, fair workers making the rounds with trolleys of boxed water and chilled champagne seemed more to be offering life support to bored-looking gallerists and assistants than a good time. Several opted for the boxed water.