It’s Armory Week here in New York and the city is back in full force. With four major fairs–The Armory Show, Independent’s new 20th Century edition, SPRING/BREAK and Art on Paper–and countless exhibitions, events, pop ups and public programs, there is no shortage of art to see. As the anchor of the week, The Armory Show presents one of the best opportunities to see new and coveted artists from the biggest names in modern and contemporary art.

Returning to the sprawling Javits Center, The Armory Show opened to the public today and runs through Sunday. While fairs can tend to mirror exactly what’s on view at the galleries just a few blocks away, this year’s Armory is a refreshing and welcome opportunity to view artists and exhibitors from outside of New York. Featuring over 240 booths and a selection of public works installed off-site at the US Open tennis tournament, the fair is as vast as ever.

Voloshyn Gallery’s Booth at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

A standout booth is Kyiv’s Voloshyn Gallery, which brought new works by Lesia Khomenko and Nikita Kadan that explore the current and historic role of war in Ukraine. Khomenko’s figural paintings were made after the war with Russia began in February. Unable to share photos to protect the safety of soldiers, those taking refuge outside of Ukraine often rely on the media’s blurred and pixilated images to visualize their loved ones still fighting at home. Depicting partly obscured soldiers, Khomenko highlights several of the concerns facing Ukrainians today, including how friends and family fighting in the war are stripped of their identities and reduced to numbers and figures.

Mazzoleni’s booth featuring Rebecca Moccia at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Also making the trip from abroad is Mazzoleni, a Torino and London-based gallery specializing in Italian art. Included in their presentation are new works by Rebecca Moccia that are part of the artist’s ongoing “Ministry of Loneliness” artistic and research-based project. Moccia explores emotional states, in particular our relationship with pain and loneliness. In one work displayed across an entire booth wall, she shared results from a survey in which she questions the role of the Ministry of Loneliness, an actual ministry in several countries including Japan and the UK. Survey participants came from all over the world, pointing to the collective nature of loneliness, amplified by the pandemic.

OSL Contemporary’s booth featuring Ane Graff at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Oslo-based OSL Contemporary put together an elegant, visually stunning presentation of silk paintings and resin sculptures resembling goblets by Ane Graff. Despite their beauty, the works are based on the artist’s research into how environmental risk factors impact mental states. Softly blowing as visitors walk by, Graff’s abstract silk paintings with rich red, pink, and brown hues reference leaky brain syndrome, in which the blood brain barrier fails, allowing toxins to enter the brain. Displayed alongside the paintings are goblets containing resin filled with disease-causing pollutants that we encounter daily, including in food, medications, and cosmetics.

Kapp Kapp’s booth featuring Velvet Other World at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Several US-based exhibitors also stood out, including New York’s Kapp Kapp, which is participating in the fair’s Presents section that features galleries under 10 years old. Kapp Kapp staged a solo presentation of charcoal drawings by Velvet Other World, an artist duo consisting of Josh Allen and Katrina Pisetti. Using only black, white, and gray, the duo creates ghostly figures in opulent attire and jewelry that explore costume as a way to protect the body while also constructing specific identities. Crisp and piercing, the drawings are transfixing, even haunting.

HOUSING’s booth featuring Nathaniel Oliver at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Also in the Presents section is HOUSING, whose booth last year won the fair’s Gramercy International Prize. The gallery followed this success with an equally remarkable solo presentation of new narrative paintings by Nathaniel Oliver that expand upon his interest in science fiction, Afrofuturism, Black magical realism, and the mercurial nature of the concepts of truth and fact. His new works depict scenes of figures who appear to be on the precipice of a journey. In one large painting, the figures sit on a dock, possibly waiting as a ship approaches. This new body of work highlights the tension between trusting others and understanding the inevitable human inclination to preserve oneself.

In Albertz Benda’s booth, Los Angeles-based, self-taught artist Devon DeJardin impressed with large, abstract heads painted in crisp, geometric shapes. With shadows to emphasize the three-dimensionality of the various shapes, the faces appear to pop out from the canvas. A fan of art history, DeJardin pays homage to great artists and artworks, including Pablo Picasso’s cubist figures and Louise Nevelson’s abstract relief sculptures.

Devon DeJardin for Albertz Benda at The Armory 2022. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Despite seeing thousands of artworks in the span of several hours, I left The Armory feeling surprisingly rejuvenated and ready for more. I knew that with so many collectors, curators, and writers in town for the fairs, it’s expected of galleries to put their best foot forward with exhibitions in their own spaces, so I continued to a few more stops in Chelsea, Tribeca, and the Lower East Side. I was glad to see that the presentations outside of the fair halls are equally remarkable.

One standout show is Lisa Oppenheim Spolia at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, a powerful exploration of Nazi spolia. In many ways a glorified word for looting, spolia refers to the removal and repurposing of architectural and decorative fragments, which historically takes place during conflict. The items and materials taken live new lives in context far removed from their original intentions. Oppenheim’s source material is the Nazi’s own documentation of looting. Rather than try to recreate lost items, she imagines the personal and shared histories represented by spolia.

Alteronce Gumby’s show The Color of Everything at Nicola Vassell Gallery. Image by Annabel Keenan.

Nearby, Nicola Vassell just opened The Color of Everything, a solo show of new works by Alteronce Gumby, the first since announcing representation of the artist last month. Made of resin, acrylic, glass, and gemstones, Gumby’s abstract works resemble the night sky and the cosmos. His surfaces draw the viewer in to investigate the unusual materials and subtle textures. Like looking into a telescope to unknown worlds, Gumby’s mesmerizing works spark curiosity and invite meditation.

Downtown, Juanita McNeely: Portraits is on view at James Fuentes, which is noteworthy not just for the art, but also for the location. McNeely is showing not at James Fuentes’ Lower East Side stronghold, but rather in a new space in Tribeca. While renovations will take place later this year and the gallery will officially move in 2023, the show gives viewers a teaser of this new chapter in the gallery’s life. McNeely’s stunning paintings are large-scale, figural, and sometimes grotesque, featuring unexpected and uncomfortable details like distorted body parts, genitalia and demonic creatures.

Also worth a visit is Trotter & Sholer, which just opened a solo show of new ceramics by Derek Weisberg. A Form of Contemplation includes vases, candleholders, and sculptural works that expand upon the artist’s exploration of the human experience, including grief and joy. With these new works, many of which are functional objects, Weisberg invites the viewer to partake in this exploration, creating moments to contemplate as they place flowers, light candles, or simply to meditate on the meaning behind the materials.

The September art fair and exhibition roster has already delivered in quality and quantity. While The Armory Show is only here for the weekend, it has jumpstarted what will undoubtedly be a packed, diverse, and inspiring fall season. It’s safe to say the summer lull is over.