As a dazzling autumn beckons, The Armory Show 2025 will once again transform New York’s Javits Center into a world stage for modern and contemporary art. Ongoing from September 5–7, with a special VIP preview on the 4th, more than 230 galleries hailing from 30 countries will converge in Manhattan. This spirited edition will be defined by curatorial rigor and a deeply rooted New York identity.
“This year’s edition of The Armory Show will be an energetic kickoff to the art world season,” shared Kyla McMillan, the fair’s newly appointed Director. “The 2025 iteration offers our audiences the opportunity to explore a breadth of high-quality presentations by a broad scope of exhibitors from the US and across the globe.”
Curatorial Anchors: Platform, Function, and Focus
Fair Imagery, Photo by Jonah Rosenberg, Courtesy The Armory Show.
At the heart of this year’s restructured floorplan are three defining sections. Platform, for the first time curated by a nonprofit, Souls Grown Deep, is guided by visionary Chief Curator Raina Lampkins-Fielder and titled My Art Is the Evidence of My Freedom. The presentation deeply honors Black artists from the American South, with monumental works by Thornton Dial, assemblages by Lonnie Holley and Joe Minter, paintings by Mary T. Smith, and a gathering of Gee’s Bend quilts as a beloved “airing of the quilts” across the fair.
“This year’s edition of The Armory Show will be an energetic kickoff to the art world season,”
Kyla McMillan
Function, a new section meticulously curated by Ebony L. Haynes, Senior Director at David Zwirner and 52 Walker, dissolves boundaries between art and design. Among its highlights: Nikita Gale’s barricade-inspired INTERCEPTOR with 56 Henry, Cauleen Smith’s soaring neon installation at Corbett vs. Dempsey, and Ryan Johnson’s commanding platform of sculpture from Marinaro.
Focus, deftly curated by Jessica Bell Brown, Executive Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, places Southern artists at the forefront. From Baldwin Lee’s documentary photographs of African American communities, presented alongside Howard Greenberg Gallery, to Monica Kim Garza’ s Mexican-Korean dinner party, shown by The Hole, the section amplifies narratives of heritage, migration, and identity.
Highlights Across the Fair
Tesfaye Urgessa, “Drawn Lines,” 2025, Oil and lacquer on canvas, Photographed by Justin Piperger, Courtesy of the artist and Saatchi Yates.
The fair’s main galleries will present a kaleidoscope of global practices, with White Cube’s solo presentation of TARWUK, Victoria Miro’s Doron Langberg canvases, and Saatchi Yates’ debut New York solo for Tesfaye Urgessa.
Emerging galleries thrive in Presents, with voices like Emily Coan, whose paintings channel women as storytellers, and Ally Rosenberg, who navigates sexual identity and religion in his allegorical works. Meanwhile, Solo offers intimate encounters, such as Evita Tezeno’s richly collaged scenes of Black America and Tatiana Blass’s multimedia exploration of Brazilian mining.
The fair also extends recognition through its annual prizes: the Gramercy International Prize, awarded this year to Silke Lindner, featuring Sylvie Hayes-Wallace’s poignant memory-driven installations, and the Armory Spotlight, honoring Storefront for Art and Architecture with a presentation of Ming Fay’s rarely exhibited public-minded works.
Programming That Resonates
Fair Imagery, Photo by Jonah Rosenberg, Courtesy The Armory Show.
Beyond the booths, The Armory Show 2025 deepens its programming with a reinforced Curatorial Leadership Summit and Armory Live series.
Eric Crosby, Director of the Carnegie Museum of Art, chairs this year’s Summit under the theme What If, convening global curators for private discussions on the shifting role of collections and artists’ needs, as well as public dialogue with artist Paul Pfeiffer. Armory Live will host conversations bridging practice and place: Renée Stout, Baldwin Lee, and Joel Gaitan in “A Permeable South”; Simon Benjamin and Mary Margaret Pettway in “My Art Is the Evidence of My Freedom”; and Connie Butler, Erin Christovale, and Eva Respini in a panel on perseverance in leadership.
Citywide Collaborations
Honor Titus, “Louis Malle Practice,” (2025). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh, Courtesy The Armory Show.
The fair’s reach extends well beyond the Javits Center. With the Queens Museum and Gagosian, Honor Titus unveils a banner installation during the US Open, and the city will glimmer nightly with Marina Zurkow’s The River is a Circle (Times Square Edition), co-presented with the Whitney Museum of American Art and Times Square Arts.
“This year, we’re focusing on the qualities that make The Armory Show’s programming so impactful—deepening our relationships with institutions, curators, and galleries, and fostering cross-organizational collaborations that help the art world persevere,” said McMillan.
“By introducing new partnerships such as Queens Museum and the Delfina Art Foundation, and creating opportunities for engagement across an array of formats, we aim to offer audiences meaningful experiences that reflect the richness and dynamism of contemporary culture.”
“We aim to offer audiences meaningful experiences that reflect the richness and dynamism of contemporary culture,”
Kyla McMillan
