- Susan Collis Named The Armory Show’s 2010 Commissioned Artist -
British artist known for meticulous replicas of everyday objects

NEW YORK, June 22, 2009– The Armory Show has commissioned British artist Susan Collis to create the visual identity for the 2010 fair. Collis’s artwork, which concentrates on meticulous recreations of everyday objects, will set the aesthetic for the fair’s look, will be featured in all of the fair’s advertising and marketing materials and will be showcased in the catalogue. This will be the ninth year The Armory Show has commissioned an artist to define the image of the fair.

Collis is known for painstaking facsimiles of mundane objects, which force viewers to reconsider details they may not have initially paid attention to. In "Made Good" (2007), a typical piece for the artist, what initially looks like a Phillips screw sticking out of the gallery wall is in fact made of gems and precious metals. As part of the installation/performance “SWEAT" (2008), a digital clock seems to mark time in the background; but the display is not an LCD – instead, the time is a stop-motion animation composed of 12,000 individual drawings. Emblematic of Collis' extreme perseverance, the clock is unfinished and will take approximately two more years to complete.

According to Executive Director Katelijne De Backer, “We are very pleased to have Susan Collis represent The Armory Show 2010. Her attention to detail will make for a memorable esthetic for the fair, and her playful tweaking of viewers’ expectations will remind us to look beyond the surface."

Susan Collis has exhibited in the United States, France and throughout the United Kingdom. Her work was recently featured as part of Out of the Ordinary at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Upcoming solo exhibitions include Espacio Minimo in Madrid on December, 2009, and Galerie Frank Elbaz in Paris on June, 2010. She is represented by SEVENTEEN, London.
History of The Armory Show Artist Commission
The Armory Show introduced its annual commission in 2002 with artist Karen Kilimnik. It was followed by partnerships with Barnaby Furnas (2003), Lisa Ruyter (2004), Jockum Nordström (2005), John Wesley (2006), Pipilotti Rist (2007), Mary Heilmann and John Waters (2008), and Ewan Gibbs (2009). In 2006 The Armory Show began publishing an annual series of editions by its commissioned artists to 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.

ABOUT THE ARMORY SHOW:
The Armory Show is America's leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its eleven years, the fair has become an international institution. Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week.

ABOUT THE MMPI ART GROUP:

MMPI manages a growing network of international art shows. Through the acquisition of The Armory Show in New York and Volta in Basel, Switzerland, MMPI is committed to the continued development and enhancement of its participation in the art world by bringing together some of the top minds in art fairs under one partnership.