Since its first edition in 1913 and the sensational unveiling of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, the Armory Show has been a showcase for the avant-garde. One hundred years later, the exhibitors seem to be relying equally on safe bets (in Pier 92) and new trends (Pier 94), with old favorites—Robert Indiana, Arthur Dove, Elie Nadelman, Alfred Jensen, Joseph Beuys, Keith Haring—mixing with the new art world darlings like Doug and Mike Starn, Michelle Grabner, Chen Haiyan, Romuald Hazoumè, Jonathan Meese and Aiko Hachisuka. The 2014 edition is a melting pot of history and backgrounds, with a focus on the Chinese art scene.
Unfortunately, this applies mostly to painting, sculpture and the multidisciplinary arts. In photography, at the risk of understatement, there’s a tendency towards the classics. In the sprawling maze of warehouses, photography takes up a small, almost negligible area, and we know all the names: William Klein, Irving Penn, Bruce Davidson, Berenice Abbott, Edward Steichen, Daido Moriyama, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, posthumous star Vivian Maier. It’s a sad reflection of the exhibitors reluctance to take a chance with up-and-coming artists, even ones who have already made a name for themselves. It’s as if photography still had to prove itself in the art world through the sale of vintage prints from its glory years. Or maybe it’s a question of current tastes.
To discover new talents at the Armory Show, you have to go to the lesser-known stands, like the Brandstrup gallery from Oslo, which was exhibiting the somewhat traditional portraits of Finnish photographer Nelli Palomäki, discovered in Europe in 2013. At the Monique Meloche gallery from Chicago was Carrie Schneider’s series of young women reading various books. It’s a safe, pictorial work with an almost religious atmosphere. One can appreciate the authenticity of Ed Templeton, a skateboarder turned artist exhibited by Tim Van Laer and Roberts & Tilton. His diary is filled with wonderful street photographs, with scenes that are by turns touching and raw, and magnificently composed collage portraits.
As for rediscoveries, there’s Nigerian photographer Okhai Ojeikere, who died last month. His series of African hairstyles is being exhibited by Yossi Milo. But the most remarkable is German photographer Sibylle Bergemann, a founding member of the Ostkreuz photo agency who died in 2010. She worked in several genres, from documenting daily life in her country for over 50 years (including Berlin during communist era) to fashion photography. Represented today by the Loock Galerie, Bergemann deserves international renown. Maybe that renown can be had at a fair like the Armory Show, since its sole concern is apparently the past.
