September is busy for the art world in New York. Hometown galleries open their most important shows, and a cluster of fairs bring together collectors and galleries from around the world. The Armory Show, which gathers more than 200 exhibitors from 35 countries at the Javits Center from Sept. 5-7, is the largest, and it remains an unparalleled opportunity to sample the global art scene.

 

But while dealers and artists alike may believe in art for art’s sake, they also have to make it work as a business. And that business, at the moment, is wobbly. Though it remains enormous, this year’s Armory fair, the second since its acquisition by Frieze, is slightly smaller than last year’s, and it’s really anyone’s guess whether collectors will buy. So it’s no surprise that most of the galleries approached this year’s Armory conservatively, reaching for brightly colored, easily approachable art in well-worn 20th-century genres that will translate to Instagram. (There are also many dead artists, whose markets and perch on art history may seem more reliable.)

 

Along with several special sections, including Focus, curated by Jessica Bell Brown to highlight artists from the American South, there are enough fine artworks here to keep you occupied for hours. Eric Firestone (416) has a particularly strong group show, there’s an exquisite Raymond Saunders painting at Andrew Kreps Gallery (104), and the array of Gee’s Bend quilts and monumental Thornton Dial installations in the Platform section is a fair unto itself.

 

The real problem is the sheer size of the place. It’s almost impossible not to feel overwhelmed. So Walker Mimms and I went in early and chose 13 exceptional booths to look for. Your experience will differ, but it’s enough to get you started. WILL HEINRICH

 

Hollis Taggart (423)

This eye-opening historical survey of lesser-known Abstract Expressionists includes solid, interesting work by Michael (Corinne) West and Albert Kotin, both of whom studied with Hans Hofmann. But for me the star is Norman Carton (1908-1980). In his landscape-oriented abstraction “Sierra Night #765” (1956), broad, glowing strokes of red and white, dotted with yellow and a single blot of sky blue, break through the middle of a mostly black field, like dawn through a seemingly interminable night or a sudden glint of happiness amid despair. HEINRICH