All About the Armory: The Art Fair Opened With a Cocktail Party and Closed With an Orville Peck Performance

The night before the Armory Show’s VIP opening, the Top of the Standard buzzed with anticipation. Silhouetted by a staggering skyline, the eclectic crowd mingled and mused on the upcoming exhibition.

“I feel like we could start tonight,” said Nicole Berry, the Armory’s executive director. “Everyone’s here!”

“Everyone” included fashion darlings (Timo Weiland), sports stars (Maurice Harkless), curators (Anne Ellegood), and countless collectors. The walls of orange roses and flutes of Champagne created a dazzling prelude to the wonders that await at Piers 90 and 94 in New York.

The following evening, guests gathered at the piers off 50th Street to see and shop some art. The VIP preview (which was populated by galleries like Gagosian, Kasmin, and Axel Vervoordt) ended promptly at 8 p.m., which was also the start time of the fair’s after-party, hosted at the nearby Museum of Modern Art.

Young collectors and patrons gathered on the just-renovated ground-floor and first-floor galleries, sipping cocktails to the tunes of DJs Kitty Cash, Hank, and Mona. The main event, however, was a performance by Orville Peck. Singing his hits like “Dead of Night” and “Turn to Hate,” the gay cowboy flashed his bright eyes at the crowd while the rest of his person remained characteristically clothed and covered. In the crowd were a couple of Peck-stans who came bedecked in the artist’s signature country-western look. Walking examples of life imitating art.