art fair report

Although its contemporary art market is considered small in relation to the country's overall economy, Japan has no shortage of commercial art fairs.

Art Fair Tokyo
The biggest art fair in Japan launched in 2005. This year in its 5th edition presented 138 exhibitors. Although the number of participating galleries decreased slightly from 143 in 2009 the crowd has been getting bigger from year to year and this time I had to queue to enter. There was the noticeable absence of galleries like Mizuma, Wako Works of Art and SCAI THE BATHHOUSE. Otherwise than that it was business as usual: hundreds of booths, featuring everything from antiques to contemporary art.
This year edition had a special section devoted to new galleries of contemporary art called 'Projects' presenting some new entries into the art world.


















photo: William Andrews

G-Tokyo
Launched in the beginning of this year and held on the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower. This 'boutique' art fair hosted only 15 galleries. The limited number of exhibitors and vast space with high ceilings made the viewing experience easier. All 15 participating galleries recorded sales by the end of the fair's run. Mizuma gallery representative said that they sold almost all of the works within the first 10 minutes of opening!


















photo: William Andrews

Art Fair Free
An art fair that one could exchange artists' works for anything but money. The swap takes place if the artist finds the client offer interesting. The mechanism goes as follows: if you find work you want, you can send your proposal to artists through the email. Artist selects one of the proposals and then the trade is completed. There were 55 artists participating.

This year on the alternative art fair end there was 101Tokyo missing and Art@Agnes on the other end.