Meet the 5 Women Artists Who Own New York This September
This special Armory Week edition of Duly Noted will get you up to speed.
Jacoba Urist
September 7, 2023
This week officially kicks off la rentrée for the art world. With the opening of the 2023 Armory Show (the reason for the season) and the meticulously curated Independent 20th Century—in its second edition, but already an insider favorite—alongside Photofairs, Art on Paper, and the Spring Break Art Show, September in New York feels like a head-spinning throng of the very best contemporary art on offer. “Back to school” for galleries also brings an embarrassment of riches, particularly when it comes to meaningful presentations of work by female artists. This special Armory edition of Duly Noted is here to cut through the noise and bring you the five shows you need to know about this weekend and beyond.
The Coolest Kid in School
The coolest show in town, hands down, belongs to KB Jones. Her first exhibition at Rachel Uffner Gallery, titled "The Land and the Fog," transforms household appliances and trash bags into sublime still lifes. While her subject matter is varied—there are several domestic scenes, a woman’s portrait, and a giant seascape based on the emoji of Katsushika Hokusai’s great wave—garbage bags and recycling are a recurring motif. “I made the show in my Clinton Hill apartment, where I moved in 2022,” says Jones. “The [Brooklyn] apartment has several windows facing a courtyard where garbage is collected and sorted. I ended up finding the play of light and shadow on plastic quite beautiful.”
Beyond her apartment view, inspiration comes from Looney Tunes and personal photos from a recent family trip to an oil rig outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico. “There are giant paintings, tiny paintings, lots of colors, and images that correspond to the real world,” she explains. “I think painting is a little magical.”
