If you're in Westport MA, don't miss Zaria Forman's group show at Deedee Shattuck Gallery from May 1st-28th where she will be exhibiting alongside Hugette May and Sandra Allen. Forman says about her new work, “with my Greenland series I attempt to capture the ephemeral properties of arctic light. I am interested in the element of water and how it absorbs and reflects the light in its various forms. The forms that we easily recognize are water, cloud, and ice; these are essential elements that inspire my compositions. I am also interested in the transition between these states and enjoy the challenge of translating such sublime experiences into my work. The different forms of illuminated water give rise to the dreamy, atmospheric scenes that I hope will transport the viewer to this remote region of the earth, and encourage action to preserve it.” Read more about the exibition here, and explore more work from Zaria here. Zaria is concurrently in residence at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Arctic Visions: Away Then Floats the Ice-Island where she will also be exhibiting new work.

We've got more pics to bring you from our installation with Lisa Levy at Yotel. On view until the end of April, Levy's work covers the Yobot and all of the fourth floor. Plus don't forget to check out her "The Thoughts in My Head" series on ArtStar!

It's no secret that we love art - but we also love the geeky world of tech startups. So we're very excited to be exhibiting at the second NY Tech Day at Pier 92. Come on by, check it out and ask us all your burning questions about how on earth we put art online (and make it look goood!). Click below for more info.

As everyone knows, the Affordable Art Fair Spring edition starts in 2 days and we're very excited to be exhibiting in their new digs at Metropolitan Pavilion on 18th street (booth 2F on the second floor, don't forget to come upstairs!). But we're also very excited to announce that we'll be exhibiting some new work that isn't even on the site yet including Theatre de la Madeleine by Franck Bohbot. Get ready to see this gem lusciously facemounted to Plexi at 30x40" and try to find a reason NOT to take it home! Need tickets to AAF? Email hello@artstar.com. We'll be there 10 am - 8 pm Thursday through Sunday (Sunday until 6pm). See you there!

With a quick turnaround time post Architectural Digest, we're gearing up for one of our favorite fairs of the whole season, the Affordable Art Fair, which this year moves to a new home at the Metropolitan Pavilion on 18th street. The fair opens on Wednesday night and you're invited to join us for a cocktail reception. Thursday-Saturday the fair is open from 11-8 and Sunday 11-5. We'll be previewing new artists (including several not seen at Architectural Digest and some not even on the site yet!) and showing off our new facemounting framing option in booth 2F on the 2nd floor. For complimentary tickets, simply click HERE and enter code:  ONDPARTST to get your general fair pass (admits 1). Questions? Email us at hello@artstar.com

Well that went well! A big thank you to everyone who stopped by the ArtStar booth at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show at Pier 94. We loved meeting so many art lovers and talented interior designers. Everyone loved our new facemounting to Plexi option for framing and it really stood out on the large Richard Silver photographs that were prominently displayed. Above and below we've got some snaps of what it takes to get a booth from bare walls and a concrete floor to looking fabulous (thanks in large part to Benjamin Moore's Gunmetal paint) in less than 24 hours - basically it requires a lot of endurance, a sturdy level and drill, hardworking colleagues and several Diet Cokes. Enjoy!

Join us at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show

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March 21-24 at Pier 94 in NYC

Booth 242

Trade Day: Thursday March 21st

Purchase Tickets HERE

Register as Trade HERE

HOURS

To preview work that ArtStar will be featuring, click HERE

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Interior designers are invited to join us for a reception in the ArtStar booth on March 21st from 4-6pm. Meet our curatorial team, preview new artists and explore our new framing options!

 We will be offering a trade discount to registered interior designers.

Questions? Email us at hello@artstar.com

Yesterday we braved the wind (and today, the snow) to hike over to Pier 94 in New York for the VIP opening of the Armory Show, New York's blue chip contemporary art fair. The show as ever, was a mix of the expected blue chip names with a few interesting corners. Likewise, the curated USA focused section was excellent and we were pleased to see one of our favorite galleries, Samson Projects from Boston represented. Below are some of our highlights, as well as our picks from the Armory Show's sister fair, VOLTA - an always excellent solo projects invitational which has finally found a true home at 82 Mercer. To see the full range of highlights, click HERE and be sure to stop by the fairs which are on until Sunday.

Peter Liversidge at Ingleby Gallery #armory

Glenn Kaino "A perfect circle" at  Honor Fraser #armory

Julia Dault at Bob Van Orsouw Gallery #armory

Michael Zelehoski at Ethan Cohen - gorgeous 3d structures collapsed onto a flat picture plane. #volta

huber.huber at Widmer + Theodoridis #voltashow

Last night we went to Chelsea to for the Will Ryman opening at Paul Kasmin Gallery. Entitled "America" the show's main feature is a replica of Lincoln's childhood cabin coated in gold resin and is filled with consumer objects from shackles to telephone cords that "[question] both the history and the evolution of consumer capitalism in America." Ryman, says the gallery, "strives to create work that explores the contradictions of the human condition." The show is definitely one to catch before the madness of Armory week descends and well worth waiting in line to get inside the cabin and spend a few minutes inside its glittering, sanctuary-like interior.

As an annual right of passage, nothing compares to the Armory Show for signaling the official start of the art fair season in New York. From the parties to the private tours to the ancillary fairs, Armory Week is the main time when we recharge our visual batteries and feat our eyes on the incredible selection of art that comes to New York.  Beyond the main Armory Show at Pier 94 which hosts the top blue chip galleries there are many ancillary fairs around the city that are well worth exploring including Scope, Independent, SPRING/BREAK, Volta, Fountain and more. Finally, since this Armory Show celebrates its centenary in 2013, be on the looking out for special anniversary features and events celebrating 100 years of the art fair that changed New York.

For a full rundown and preview slideshow check out ARTINFO's coverage.

Our Picks:

Fountain Art Fair - Held at the Lexington Avenue Armory from March 8-10th, the Fountain Art fair is both manageable and youthful with a focus on alternative galleries and younger exhibitors. We're looking forward to our friends at Uprise Art's booth who will be showing the work of Robert Otto Epstein.

Volta - Focused on invitational solo artist's projects Volta is always near the front of the pack of the ancillary shows. This year they head to a new venue at 82 Mercer in Soho, much airier than their former midtown digs, and we're interested to see what they'll do in the new space. Their website could also use a bit of an upgrade to lighten up the dark graphics but we like that you can search by Artist or Gallery. We're looking forward to the Kadar Brock piece (above) at The Hole. DCKT and other cool downtown galleries show here.

Moving Image Art Fair - Now into it's 3rd year this fair wins for coolest venue, taking place at the Waterfront Tunnel at 269 11th Ave in Chelsea which proves to be a great venue for showing contemporary video. In past years we've been been pleasantly surprised by the calibre of video art on display and the narrow tunnel lined with suspended video screens actually draws the viewer along the length of the hall, unlike booths which are difficult to nagivate between in the space. Screen shot above from Shopping Heads by Michel Auder from Newman Popiashvili gallery.