Armory Focus: USA to be Curated by Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum

Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Appointed Curator of Armory Focus: USA In Celebration of the Centennial of the 1913 Armory Show, The Fourth Edition of Armory Focus Will Exhibit the Achievements of Contemporary Art in America

NEW YORK - Armory Focus, the curated section of The Armory Show, highlights the gallery and artistic landscape of a chosen geographic region. As part of this year’s reflection on the arrival of the avant-garde in America, Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, will curate Armory Focus: USA, presenting a broad snapshot of the country’s contemporary cultural practice. The Armory Show’s 2013 program will celebrate the centennial of the original Armory Show of 1913, a groundbreaking exhibition credited with bringing modernism to America. 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, we 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. In light of his appointment, Eric 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.” In addition to Armory programming that will take place leading up to and during the fair, several of our cultural partners will host exhibitions relating to the 1913 Armory and the development of modernism. During the fair, the Museum of Modern Art will present Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925 (December 23, 2012–April 15, 2013); the Metropolitan Museum of Art will exhibit African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde (November 27, 2012–April 14, 2013), displaying African artifacts acquired by New York’s artistic community during the 1910s and 1920s; and the Montclair Art Museumwill show The New Spirit:  American Art in the Armory Show, 1913 (February 17–June 16, 2013). The New-York Historical Society, meanwhile, will host The Armory Show at 100, featuring such canonical works as Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, first viewed on American soil at The Armory Show of 1913. The exhibition will open in October 2013. About the Armory Focus Curator Eric C. Shiner is the Director of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA. Shiner has organized and curated three major exhibitions since his appointment to Director in 2011, including: Factory Direct: Pittsburgh, an exhibition showcasing the artwork of 14 established contemporary artists invited to conduct artist residencies in Pittsburgh-based factories; Deborah Kass: Before and Happily Ever After, a major mid-career retrospective of paintings and sculpture by the New York artist; and the 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial, an exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum dedicated to artists whose work aims at transgressing boundaries and engendering transformative change in a nod to Gertrude Stein and her life’s work. Shiner is committed to positioning The Andy Warhol Museum as the epicenter of Andy Warhol’s legacy, as well as a global contemporary art destination. He is an active writer and translator, a contributing editor forArtAsiaPacific magazine, and an adjunct professor of art history at The University of Pittsburgh. He received a Bachelor of Philosophy in The History of Art & Architecture and Japanese Language & Literature from The University of Pittsburgh’s Honors College in 1994, an M.A. in The History of Art from Osaka University in 2001, and another M.A. in The History of Art from Yale in 2003.  He joined The Andy Warhol Museum as The Milton Fine Curator of Art in 2008. About The Andy Warhol Museum Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol's birth, The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.  Additional information about The Warhol is available at www.warhol.org. The History of Armory Focus Armory Focus was initiated in 2010 to highlight the contemporary gallery and artistic landscape from a specific geographic region. This unique section of the fair has quickly become one of the defining features of The Armory Show, presenting a survey of a region’s contemporary cultural practices as framed by a singular curatorial vision. Armory Focus booths are located in a dedicated section adjacent to the entrance of Pier 94 and associated projects will be presented throughout the fair. Talks and lectures will also be organized around topics pertinent to Armory Focus: USA as part of The Armory Show’s popular Open Forum program of panels. Armory Focus 2012: Nordic Countries featured the following galleries: Galerie Anhava, Helsinki; Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen; Beaver Projects, Copenhagen; Gallery Niklas Belenius, Stockholm; Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen; Crystal, Stockholm; D.O.R., Oslo;  Dortmund Bodega, Oslo; ELASTIC, Malmö; Fruit & Flower Deli, Stockholm;  i8, Reykjavik; IMO; Copenhagen; Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm; Christian Larsen, Stockholm; NOPlace, Oslo; Galleri Susanne Ottesen, Copenhagen; David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen; Galleri Christian Torp, Oslo; V1 Gallery, Copenhagen.  Armory Focus 2011: Latin America featured the following galleries: A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro; Galeria Isabel Aninat, Santiago; Arroniz, Baro Gallery, Mexico City; Caja Blanca, Mexico City; Casa Triângulo, São Paulo; Galeria Casas Riegner, Bogotá; Lucia De La Puente, Lima; Faría Fábregas Galería, Caracas; Galeria Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City, Galeria Leme, São Paulo; Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporaneo, Buenos Aires; Galeria Laura Marsiaj, São Paulo; Mendes Wood, São Paulo; Nueveochenta, Bogotá; Revolver Galeria, Lima; Galeria Nara Roesler, São Paulo and Vermelho, São Paulo. Armory Focus 2010: Berlin featured the following galleries: Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Buchmann Galerie, carlier|gebauer, COMA, Galerie Crone, Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Johnen Gallery, KLEMM'S, Johann König, Tanya Leighton Gallery, Loock Galerie, Christian Nagel, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Produzentengalerie: ph-projects, Reception, Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Esther Schipper, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Wentrup, Galerie Barbara Wien. 2013 Fair Show Dates  March 7-10, 2013 Piers 92 & 94 Twelfth Avenue at 55th Street New York City Opening Hours Wednesday, March 6th – VIP Preview for invited guests Thursday, March 7 - Sunday, March 10, noon to 7 p.m. Press Contact Allison Rodman Communications Manager The Armory Show (646) 616-7433 a.rodman@thearmoryshow.com www.thearmoryshow.com

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