On the heels of a bustling month of art fairs in London and Paris, the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) ushered in its 35th edition of The Art Show in New York. This year’s fair, running from November 2nd to 5th at the historic Park Avenue Armory, features 78 ADAA member galleries and includes solo artist presentations.
During the fair’s preview day, the atmosphere was electric, with notable personalities such as actor Tom Hanks, actress Laura Dern, singer Bruce Springsteen, writer Fran Lebowitz, and MoMA PS1 board member Agnes Gund among the notable attendees. In the fair aisles, amid a strong display of artworks, the ambiance struck a balance of grandeur and intimacy.
One striking feature of this year’s edition is its noticeable emphasis on contemporary women artists, with several galleries foregrounding compelling works and visions. Notable presentations include P.P.O.W’s showcase of the evocative sculptures of Ann Agee and Anat Ebgi’s championing of the profound artistry of Faith Wilding. Peter Blum Gallery’s showcase of Sonja Sekula is another notable standout, not only for the art itself but for the gallery’s role in reviving the legacy of an artist who, for too long, remained overshadowed during the meteoric rise of her contemporaries.
The Armory’s aisles also featured leading blue-chip galleries such as Almine Rech, Marian Goodman, and Pace Gallery. Notable new ADAA members exhibiting included Perrotin, Shulamit Nazarian, and Eric Firestone Gallery.
Here, we present our picks of the 10 best booths from the fair.
P.P.O.W
Booth C16
With works by Ann Agee
Tribeca gallery P.P.O.W crafted their booth to mirror the studio of the sculptor Ann Agee, and, within its confines, attendees find themselves immersed in a tableau of works by the renowned feminist artist. Her “Madonnas of the Girl Child” series, which was first presented by the gallery in 2021, reimagines the traditional Madonna and Christ child figure through a feminist lens. Originally a painter, Agee designs ceramics dynamically, with standout patterning on the Simple Crisscross Madonna and the Blue Pixelation Madonna (both 2023).
Each sculpture is stamped “Agee Manufacturing Co.” or “Agee MFG” to evoke a sense of industrial production merged with the artisanal care of a singular craftsperson. By focusing on factory production, Agee’s work stands as a monument against historically patriarchal modes of creation and religion.
“Since the late ’90s, she’s been working with this conceit of thinking of herself and her studio practice as a kind of one-woman manufacturing company,” said Trey Hollis, senior director at P.P.O.W. “She calls these ‘Madonnas of the Girl Child,’ and she’s intentionally producing—thinking of herself as an advertising and factory production— feminist propaganda. She wants to create a world repopulated with girls who are invested with this kind of divine potential that the Christ child is having.”