Armory Arts Week: Volta Highlights

Sam Jinks with Marc Straus Gallery, Untitled (Babies with Frogs), 2014, Silicone, pigment, resin, human hair

Armory Arts week always feels like a game of bingo–you’re tasked with checking off as much as possible in a very finite amount of time and it can become very overwhelming if you’re playing with multiple cards (or if you have any semblance of a job–especially one of the full-time nature). Another analogy I’ve heard it likened to is Disney World–like a futile attempt to hit all of the different parks in only a few days’ time. It’s virtually impossible/insane to see everything that the Armory Show and accompanying satellite fairs (ADAA, Volta, Pulse, Scope, Art on Paper, Independent, Spring/Break, (Un)Scene, etc.) have to offer in the less than a week time block. This year I managed to hit The Armory Show, Volta, (Un)Scene, and Spring/Break. Volta has remained my favorite show for the second year in a row because of it’s organization (it moved to Pier 90–adjacent to The Armory Show this year) and it’s accessibility to the art–one of the best features is the leaflets with descriptions of the artwork that each booth offers. Other highlights included free Ben & Jerry’s (and admission) at (Un)Scene and the former post-office/Herald Square location of Spring/Break (which was formally housed in a old Catholic school).

Any who–here are my favorite pieces from Volta.

dNASAb, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, “Plasticized Vortex,” 2015

Petrina Hicks, This is No Fantasy + Dianne Tanzer Gallery, “Venus,” 2013

Travis Somerville, Beta Pictoris Gallery, “Well Division,” 2009, vintage porcelain drinking fountains and panels, copper pipes, running water