Top Five Recurring Themes at the New York Armory Show

Tuesday February 27, 2007

1) Mirrors, especially large mirrored sculptural objects and mirrored lettering. If not mirrors, then reflective surfaces, i.e. enamel, or shiny material, i.e. tinfoil.
2) Food sculpture. My favorite overheard statement was uttered by a five-year-old being dragged along by his mother, in reference to a watermelon on a pedestal: “But that’s just a watermelon!” Elsewhere, apple cores, Mr. Potatohead-style assemblages, you name it.
3) Tapestry. Usually adorned with some sort of glib pop imagery.
4) Pixelation, in photography and painting. It made me feel a little nauseated.
5) Andy Warhol images, usually iconic ones by famous people like Stephen Shore and Robert Mapplethorpe.

I liked the biomorphic bronze sculptures by Tony Cragg and the small, fairytale-ish, slightly Africa-inspired oil paintings by Niklas Enblom and most everything in the Pace Wildenstein booth, among others. But after a few hours in an overcrowded, overheated art warehouse, all you’re able to see is what everyone seems to be doing.