The Andy Warhol Museum's Eric Shiner to Curate 'Focus' at the Centenniel Armory Show

Exciting news in the Art World. The 2013 Armory Show, which this year will commemorate the centenniel of the original Armory Show in 1913, which was a groundbreaking exhibition credited with bringing Modernism to the United States, has invited Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, to curate Armory Focus: USA, presenting a broad snapshot of the country’s contemporary cultural practice.

Armory Focus, the curated section of The Armory Show, highlights the gallery and artistic landscape of a chosen geographic region.


Notes from the Armory Show: "As American artists, galleries, and institutions continue to grapple with and re-position modes of self-reflection, Armory Focus: USA will examine the forefront of artistic practice—the core of our inherited legacy stretching back to the 1913 Armory Show—by showcasing contemporary responses to integral questions of artistic production in the United States. In recognition of our country’s extraordinarily diverse cultural output, [The Armory Show] will offer a select group of galleries from across America the opportunity to present their unique programming, providing a forum for an ever-expanding national conversation at the fair.

Mr Shiner notes, “I am most excited to curate the 2013 Armory Show Focus section and to gauge the pulse of contemporary art production in America today. A celebration of the first Armory Show in 1913—an event that ushered in the avant-garde to this country—next year’s fair will stand as a testament to the fact that the avant-garde took root here and prospered, just as it will highlight the very best artists and artworks available today. Although it will certainly be challenging to give a barometer of what contemporary art from America has become, I hope to put together a witty and far-sweeping Focus section that makes visitors stop and think about America, art, and ultimately their place within it.”

Michael Hall, Creative Director of The Armory Show, says, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Eric Shiner, whose curatorial insights will craft an exceptional take on the visual culture flourishing in our own back yard. At the helm of a cutting-edge institution in the heart of America, Eric was the perfect choice to lead this section, defining the new avant-garde of the early twenty-first century.”

Noah Horowitz, Executive Director of The Armory Show, states, “America has always been a country defined by its attraction to the frontier, and a century after the original Armory Show gave American artists license to break conclusively with the past, that frontier is increasingly being explored through art that addresses the most complex issues of our time, from the pervasive influence of technology on modern life to the atomizing force of globalization. In Armory Focus: USA, we are proud to survey this artistic vanguard through the lens of our distinguished curator, Eric Shiner.”

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn is an enthusiastic fan of both The Armory Show and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, which, for the art world in general, and New York City and Pittsburgh, respectively, are the Really Big Shows, and the only games in their home towns.

The 2013 Armory Show will be coming to New York City on March 7-10, 2013, Piers 92 & 94
Twelfth Avenue at 55th Street. For more information visit here

-Anthony Napoli, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn