What a mind blowing week of art and its insatiable thirst for glamour. The Armory Show, also known as New York’s most important contemporary art fair, took place March 4th – 7th. My days were spent running around the fairs and my nights were filled with champagne openings and eclectic and eccentric curators, collectors, gallerists and art enthusiasts. The New York art scene has a very established hierarchy.

A striking change from previous years is that less than 1% of artwork shown at the main fair or the satellite fairs was Chinese contemporary. Although it was not shown at the fairs there is a renewed interest in young Chinese artists.

The most incredible exhibition/event that I attended was the Armory VIP preview of Marina Abramovic’s retrospective solo exhibition The Artist is Present at MoMA. She is one of the most influential and infamous performance artists of our time. Her 3 decade body of work has pushed the limits of the human body and the possibilities of the mind.

The living legend will be present for the duration of the exhibition which is over 2 months. Museum guests are able to participate in her longest performance to date. Every day during museum hours, guests can sit across from her for a duration of time that the guest decides. While face to face across the table, Marina will envelope you into her gaze. At 62 she has the experience to put her mind and body through this 713 hour performance. Most guests could only stay 10 minutes.

New York Times review of Armory
ARTINFO: Marina Abramovic exhibition + pics
New York Times review of the Artist is Present