NEW YORK—For nearly a quarter century, collectors have flocked to the annual art show put on by the venerable Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) at New York’s spiffed up Seventh Regiment Armory. At the fair’s 20th edition, held February 21 through 25, works of every era and genre are once again on display. However, as in recent years, the focus is on contemporary artists—and on New York dealers, who account for 56 of the 70 exhibitors. One of them, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, is bringing a range of pieces by Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, known for his light-based installations and photography. Another, Luhring Augustine, has made Steve Wolfe the subject of a miniretrospective. Wolfe’s sculptures, priced from $80,000 to $150,000, replicate books that influenced him, such as Andre Breton?s Manifestoes of Surrealism, the inspiration for Untitled (Manifestoes of Surrealism), 1987–88.

Launching an ambitious contemporary-art program that goes beyond the booths, the ADAA has invited three international artists— Pietro Roccasalva from Madrid and New York–based Spencer Finch and Lisi Raskin?to create site-specific installations in the armory’s original 19th-century rooms, some of which have been closed to the public for years. A group exhibition of new video works occupies the hallway leading from those rooms to the fair proper.

“We wanted to support the armory’s efforts, even beyond the restoration, and help make it a site for contemporary art and reactivate the space,” explains ADAA executive director Linda Blumberg. By combining new art and a historical setting, the public projects, none of which are for sale, demonstrate the fair’s commitment to both traditional and contemporary art.

On the historical side of the equation, New York's Ameringer & Yohe gallery is selling items by blue-chip artists Anthony Caro, David Hockney and Morris Louis in an exhibition designed as a tribute to two-time ADAA president Andre Emmerich, who died last year and had worked with all three figures. Tibor de Nagy, another Manhattan-based dealer, is bringing six glass pieces by celebrated sculptor Dale Chihuly. Priced between $20,000 and $45,000, the objects are from the early to mid-1980s, with several hailing from the artist’s “Macchia” and “Seaform” series. San Francisco’s John Berggruen gallery—always to be counted on for top-quality contemporary and postwar material—is offering a new Ed Ruscha painting titled Report.

On February 23 the panel discussion “Art Dealers and Auction Houses, a Cultural Divide” features a lineup of luminaries—Phillips de Pury & Co. chairman Simon de Pury and New York gallerist Andrea Rosen, among them.

"Show-Off" originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's February 2008 Table of Contents.