TOKYO – Japan art fair Tokyo Gendai officially opened its second edition on July 5, building on the momentum it started in 2023 when it was hailed as the country’s first truly international art fair in 30 years.
With 69 participating galleries, it is smaller than its Singapore counterpart Art SG’s 114 strong line-up in January.
But it is noteworthy for its strong representation of Japanese artists and the excitement it has generated in commercial galleries in Tokyo, which put up impressive solo shows of major artists from black American artist Theaster Gates to Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi to mark the occasion.
Held in convention centre PACIFICO Yokohama Hall, about a half-hour drive from central Tokyo, Tokyo Gendai is organised by The Art Assembly, which also launched Art SG in 2023 and organises the five-year old Taipei Dangdai that took place in May.
Collectors were given a preview of Tokyo Gendai, which means contemporary in Japanese, on July 4 and were already beginning to negotiate sales.
The fair which officially runs from July 5 to 7 this year attracted about 10 fewer galleries than its first edition, though it also includes fresh participants such as blue-chip Pace Gallery and French gallery Ceysson & Benetiere, both opening brand new spaces in Tokyo in 2024.
Co-founder Magnus Renfrew said Tokyo Gendai has seen a “real boost in terms of our international participation” in 2024. A change in tax policy that exempts galleries from paying tax on imported art for the fair has been significant – it is the first time an international art fair in Japan has been granted this “bonded status”.
Mr Renfrew said: “This has really led to the opportunity for international galleries to participate in art fairs in Japan at this level for the first time. In the coming years, we are going to see increasing number of international galleries exploring the art market in Japan and bringing their programmes here.”
Participating galleries in 2024 came from 18 different countries and territories, with visitors drawn to Japan as a “bucket list” destination, he added. Art SG has about twice that at 33 countries and territories; Taipei Dangdai’s 78 galleries in 2024 hailed from 19 different locations.
Significant displays at Tokyo Gendai include five large-scale installations that provide easy reference points for visitors, most interesting being Japanese artist Yuichiro Tamura’s The Cowboy On The Grass, involving – unusually for an art fair – three bandana-wearing live performers who lounged on a green carpet.
They were ostensibly arranged in the manner of Edouard Manet’s then controversial The Luncheon On The Grass (1862-3), though they made a montage of it, periodically shifting positions throughout the long vernissage day.
Also noteworthy in the fair is a group show presented by Spectrum Collective titled All Things Are Delicately Interconnected, which put four artists – Jenny Holzer, Miya Ando, Mika Tajima and Sareena Sattapon – in a tete-a-tete.