The 32nd edition of the Armory Show opened to VIPs at the Javits Center with a quieter than usual atmosphere, perhaps due to its earlier start time and a change in its calendar. This year's fair features around 230 galleries, with standout booths in the Focus and Presents sections.

At Praise Shadows, John Shen's 'After Image' sculpture is a haunting reminder of his mother, permanently inscribed on a CRT screen after four years of constant display. The booth also showcases striking direct positive photographs made with a custom-built camera of 28,000 black cocktail straws, creating an abstract pixelation effect.

Summer Mei Ling Lee's 'When Fox is a Thousand' and 'into the nearness of distance' series hang gracefully from the ceiling, evoking a sense of both closeness and distance through Sumi ink and cyanotypes, influenced by Heidegger and Derrida.

In Magenta Plains, Paul Gardère's assemblage works, like 'Voyage to Ile de France,' offer a poignant reflection on an artist's journey from Haiti to France, blending different materials and techniques to create layered narratives.

Phuong Nguyen's assemblages, such as 'Planche CXXI v2,' mix painting with ceramics and other materials, producing intricate and thought-provoking compositions that explore cultural and artistic traditions.