- The Armory Show Celebrates 10 Successful Years -
Anniversary marked with artists’ commissions, book signings and special projects


New York, NY, February 25, 2007 - The Armory Show, The International Fair of New Art, is celebrating its tenth edition March 27 – 30, 2008 at Pier 94 with several special events, including commissioned prints from John Waters and Mary Heilmann, book signings and artists’ projects. Local galleries and institutions are also joining the celebration with noteworthy happenings. In honor of its tenth edition, The Armory Show has commissioned Baltimore artist John Waters and New York artist Mary Heilmann, exhibiting artists at the fair’s late founders Colin de Land and Pat Hearn’s galleries, to collaborate on the visual identity for the fair. This is the seventh year that an artist has been commissioned to define the image of The Armory Show and the first time that two artists have been asked to work on it together. They will each be creating limited edition prints, the sales of which will benefit the Pat Hearn and Colin de Land Cancer Foundation and the Pat Hearn and Colin de Land Acquisition Fund at the Museum of Modern Art. The artists will also be signing copies of the catalogue on preview day. Also as part of the celebrations, several artists are presenting installations throughout the fair. One of the most notable is former American Fine Arts artist Alex Bag’s “Untitled (The Van)," courtesy of Elizabeth Dee Gallery. The van, a white Dodge with customized interior, was originally shown near de Land's gallery booth at The Armory Show in 2001.

A video is projected in its interior of a dealer driving three of his artists – all played by Bag – to the Armory Show as they chatter about career issues and luxury items, a great reminder of de Land's irreverent sensibility as a gallerist. Among the many impressive projects made specifically for the fair is Assume Vivid Astro Focus’s site-specific installation on a wall over 100 feet long outside the VIP lounge, courtesy of Deitch Projects.

Additionally, The Armory Show 2008 is co-hosting a book signing by author Dennis Balk for his new book, Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, at the fair's public lounge, courtesy of Artforum and Vivavi. The book is primarily a photo document of the galleries run by de Land and the people and events associated with them. Furthermore, there are many great public events connected to Armory Week. Among them, all of Williamsburg’s galleries will be open until 11:00 pm on Saturday, March 29. Also, The New Museum has extended its inaugural exhibition, Unmonumental, to coincide with the fair; it’s now closing on Sunday, March 30, and on that day the Lower East Side galleries will be open and will have a guided walking tour. A number of foreign cultural organizations in New York are also holding special events during the week, including curator-guided tours of "Under Pain of Death" at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, an exhibition of The Florence & Daniel Guerlain Collection atthe French Embassy, the Artistic Fair at Swiss Institute, co-hosted by the Consulate General of Switzerland, and a private cocktail reception and presentation of the book Leo Castelli: The Italian Who Created Art in America at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Visitors to the tenth edition of The Armory Show will encounter new art by over 2,000 living artists from 160 of the world’s leading galleries and nonprofit organizations. Exhibitors will be coming from 39 different cities in 21 countries to create an exhibition that encompasses the richness and diversity of the international art world at its most current.