The centennial edition of the Armory Show, celebrating the arrival of the European Avant-garde in New York, in 1913, opens on Piers 92 & 94 today at noon. Among the highlights are several special projects dispersed throughout the fair. Eric Shiner, curator of Armory Focus: USA and Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh has commissioned a tower of Brillo boxes by artist Charles Lutz, Babel (Brillo Stockholm Type), 2013; Dave Cole’s Flags of the World, 2008, will be draped from the ceiling of the piers; The Andy Warhol Museum will host Factory Film Portraits, a screen-test room that allows visitors to experience Andy Warhol’s famous methods of portraiture for themselves; and an installation by Devon Dikeo, Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride, 2013. Special Projects also include Day’s End, 2013, a site-specific light bulb sculpture by Peter Liversidge that references an eponymous work by Gordon Matta-Clarke on pier 52 from 1974-75.

At the preview yesterday, I chanced on David Cole (above left) at his Flags of the World installation. He created the piece by cutting out all the red, white, and blue fabric from a United Nations flag set to stitch a 180-by-342-inch American flag; the remaining world flag pieces are scattered on the floor below. (all photos: Peggy Roalf)

At Richard Heller Gallery, a painting by Neil Farber & Michael Dumontier celebrates books with wit and charm. The large piece is collaged together from 500 small paintings that express a love of lit (below).

Books are everywhere at the fair, and this year, publishing enterprises are randomly located across the floor, providing sparks of interest among gallery installations. New this year is Spaces Corners, from Pittsburgh, which specializes in photography and artist books. Their offerings include Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes, Lebensmittel, Now Dim, Hattfabriken/Luckenwalde, Sverige, Amerikabilder, Casa de Campo, Redheaded Peckerwood, A Partial Eclipse, among others.

At Amsterdam’s Galerie van Gelder, a 2-channel video by Marijke van Warmerdam, in which tulip-colored parrots do wheelies on perches above fields of brilliant flowers, steal the show (above left). Isabelle van den Eynde Gallery, of Dubai, represents artists from the Middle East. Director Barrak Alzaid gave me a guided tour of the installation featuring paintings by gallery artists hung in a dimly lit room to be viewed with antique-style flashlights—an homage to the 1938 Surrealist exhibition in Paris.

A list of Armory Arts Week fairs follows the jump. For information about Armory Show events and films, please visit the website. New this year: You can preview over 2,500 works of art on Artsy before you go. 

Armory Arts Week

The Armory Show and The Armory Show-Modern, March 8-11
Celebrating its fifteenth year and paying homage to the 100th anniversary of its namesake, the legendary 1913 Amory Show International Exhibition of Modern Art, the 2013 edition will feature an international roster of leading galleries; the acclaimed Armory Show VIP program; a lively opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art; the eclectic and engaging Open Forum speaker series; Armory Film, a series featuring a dynamic selection of contemporary film and video work; Armory Performance; and Armory Arts Week in partnership with New York's acclaimed cultural institutions.
Piers 92 & 94, 12^thAvenue at 55^th Street.

Volta NY, March 8-11
Venue: 7 W, 7 West 34th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues

Art Now Fair, March 8-11
VMAve Hotel, 62 Madison Avenue at 27th Street

ADAA Art Show, March 7=11
Venue: Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street

Fountain, March 9-11
69th Regiment Armory, 25th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues

Independent, March 8-11
548 W 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011

Moving Image, March 8-11
Waterfront New York Tunnel, 11th Avenue between 27th Street and 28th Street

New City Art Fair, March 7-11
hpgrp Gallery NY, 529 West 20th Street #2W

Pool Art Fair New York, March 9-11
Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street

Spring/Break Art Show, March 8-11
The Old School, 233 Mott Street, New York City 10012

Scope New York, March 7-11
57th St & 12th Avenue (West Side Highway)