The New York Times

ART REVIEW;
The Armory Show, Grown Up and in Love With Color

February 22, 2002

By ROBERTA SMITH

Correction Appended

The Armory Show has survived its growth spurt. Last year it shot up to 170 dealers from fewer than 100, moved into two big piers on the Hudson River and experienced some moments of adolescent awkwardness. There were problems moving art in, getting it on the walls and finding a decent snack. Many dealers grumbled, but they seem to have been heard. The New York dealers who founded the fair, back at the Gramercy Hotel in 1994, have handed over its administration to full-time professionals, and much has been ironed out.

The walls are sturdier this year, the floors are carpeted, and reasonable nourishment is available. An unfamiliar sense of calm prevailed during the setting-up days earlier this week. The whole event feels and looks much more together, even adult.

The Armory Show's claim to be the ''International Fair of New Art'' is more or less fulfilled. Unless you spend your life jetting between European art capitals and international biennials, there is always new information to be gleaned from careful perusal of the fair's booths.

. . .

Few of the videos were up and running when I was previewing the show, but "Parallel," an ultra-sophisticated (and well-made) double-screen narrative at Jay Jopling/White Cube by Runa Islam, a young British artist, made a definite impression. So did Carlos Ferrari's "Michigan Parallel," another compressed narrative, this one in the form of a homemade movie trailer, at Florence Lynch.

Entire Smith article HERE