Highlights from Downtown Fair 2014

Yesterday was the opening day of the inaugural Downtown Fair in NYC. The contemporary art fair is being held in the 69th Regent Armory in lower Manhattan, and is host to nearly 600 artists from galleries across the globe.

It was an impressive turn out, with floods of people crowding in to see never before exhibited works from big names like Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, Picasso, and Google Glass artist David Datuna.

Some of my personal favorite works on show were Silvia Levenson's sculptures; frosted, Barbie-pink glass conveys dangerous items, like guns and grenades, touching on gender and political themes. Beverly Fishman, who was exhibited alongside Levenson in the David Richard Gallery space, was another personal favorite. Her blown glass and neon sculptures of pop culture icons are playful and impossible not to notice.

Apart from Levenson and Fishman, there was Maria Berrio's startlingly delicate collages featuring Japanese paper and watercolor. Julie Blackmon's indulgent photographs of misbehaving children were also quite enjoyable.

This is a huge week for art in NYC. Aside from Downtown Fair, Frieze Art Fair, New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), Pulse, and the Outsider Art Fair just kicked off.

The fair will go on until Sunday, May 11th. To see more of the artists' work and learn more about Downtown Fair, visit: http://www.downtownfair.com/.