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The 2026 edition of The Armory Show brought 242 exhibitors from more than 30 countries to the Javits Center this year, with more of a focus on emerging galleries and solo presentations. The figurative work was what ultimately captured my attention most. Here are a few artists and presentations in particular that continue to stand out days after the close of the fair.
Enari Gallery — Johanna Bath
Johanna Bath’s paintings explore intimacy, memory, and human connection. The works are soft and have a hazy, almost dreamlike quality. While some depict or suggest nudity, they feel more like snapshots of fleeting moments than images made for the sake of being explicit.
Richard Beavers Gallery — Desmond Beach, Leroy Campbell, Marcus Jansen, and Telvin Wallace
Richard Beavers Gallery presented a wonderful group exhibition, In Plain Sight, examining how Black lived experiences can be (and often are) overlooked. Desmond Beach’s textiles were particularly captivating. He combines the tradition of quilt making - which has deep roots in Black culture in the United States - with portraiture to highlight and make visible Black women who might otherwise have been unseen.
Mennour Gallery — Dhewadi Hadjab
This body of work is one that kept appearing on my timeline in the days following the show - and one that I kept returning to on my own phone. Artsy also reported that Mennour sold eight paintings for $110,000 each!
Dhewadi Hadjab’s series features an anonymous figure contorting their body into different positions. Across the paintings, the figure seems to convey various emotions through their body, almost in the same way that facial expressions communicate emotion. On the level of sheer technical skill, the works are remarkable and you could easily mistake the paintings for photographs at first glance.
Asya Geisberg Gallery — Katarina Riesing
Katarina Riesing uses embroidery to capture texture and movement of the body. At times, the subjects feel like distinct, separate figures, while in other works they appear entwined. Several pieces feature silver thread layered over a body to suggest movement, almost like the effect of a camera with a slow shutter speed.
Nazarian / Curcio Gallery — Coady Brown
The visual style of Coady Brown’s work feels particularly refreshing. Her high-contrast, rich color palette and the positioning of her subjects on the canvas immediately draw the viewer in and create a sense of curiosity: Who are these people? Who are they in relation to one another?
Her work explores the self-representation of these figures in both public and private life. There is a sense that subtle clues have been left throughout each canvas, inviting the viewer to consider how the subjects might answer those questions for themselves.
