Art: The Armory Show March 5-8th, 2009

For a brief four days in mid-March, the New York art scene takes a ride uptown from its home in Chelsea to the make-shift bungalow on the Hudson River: Pier 92 & 94 in Mid-town West. The New York Armory show is the hub of the art scene this time of year. Here art dealers, gallery owners, patrons, art-students, and critics alike gather to be a part of the scene, and above all, gauge the year's art market. As the DOW slid 300 points while I was aimlessly wandering the gallery stalls-- I could almost feel the art-balloon of the past decade rapidly deflate, as the hushed tones of anxious gallerists and persistent patrons negotiated prices. The word on the street is that many galleries were willing to offer deals of up to 30% off..unheard of just a year ago.

Indeed, if there was any inkling of an economic depression, it was written on the crisp white walls at The Armory. Massimo De Carlo, hung a slab of marble engraved in gold, "Everyone is Broke"; the small work on paper blatantly reading in red ink: "Keep Calm and Carry On," as if saying: "don't open your Fidelity envelopes, or your 401-K statements, and for God's sake don't sell." Another work, vast in both scale and price, (reportedly going for 100k !!) was a black and white portrait of ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff by the Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming. It went unsold, supposedly.

Despite the depressing economic back-drop, all works considered, from the Botero's, Picasso's and Lucian Freud to the psychic-apothecary by Christine Hill, the mood was one of resilience at The Armory this year. Jack Pierson's "Believe" sums it up.