Photo by David Willems

Katelijne de Backer, the Armory Show's Executive Director.

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No. There is a bigger reason for doing this fair: to show art. Dealers are going to sell the work of artists that they represent to collectors and museums. But we also provide an opportunity for the general public – who is not a buying public – to see what is happening in art. We are using the dealers and the collectors and the money changing hands to make art more important. Last year we had lines of people from the entrance on the pier to 62nd Street and when they were told it was going to be a two-hour wait, they said “OK, we’ll wait.” These weren’t the people who were going to buy any art; these were people who were interested in art. In the past, art was a very elitist thing, where the serious collector bought art and it wasn’t ever seen outside of the art world. Now it’s much more open, and I think that art fairs are the reason for that.

Also, although the Armory Show runs on commerce, the galleries don’t necessarily expect everything that they show to sell. A lot of the commerce actually happens after the fair closes, and a lot of galleries take advantage of that to show really provocative work. It’s almost like couture fashion: they’re not necessarily presenting what they think collectors are going to pick, they’re presenting what they want their gallery to stand for.