This week in Tokyo, the much-anticipated ART FAIR TOKYO 19 unfolds as a key creative presentation of the Japanese art market, currently on view through March 9 at Tokyo International Forum.
Steered by Kiichi Kitajima, ART FAIR TOKYO’s Managing Director, the all-encompassing show here celebrates its standout 20th anniversary, uniting 139 local and international galleries. The country’s premier art spaces will be presenting vanguard exhibitions, and 13 new exhibitors will bring fresh perspectives and energies to the pivotal showcase.
Inside ART FAIR TOKYO and the Dynamic Japanese Art Market
Installation view of ART FAIR TOKYO 2024; Courtesy of ART FAIR TOKYO.
A dynamic committee team made up of Japan’s most distinguished art spaces spearheads ART FAIR TOKYO, solidifying it as the country’s supreme stage for the vibrant Japanese art market. The presentation invokes Japan’s rich history of boundary-breaking artistry, as well as engages the powerful stakeholders of the international art landscape.
The sweeping fair is widely known for its comprehensive exhibitions and diverse attention to revelatory antiques, modern and contemporary art, and crafts. It is within this arena that essential connections are forged between leading artists, discerning art collectors, and industry professionals. With Japan’s major position as the second largest art market, this year’s iteration of Art Fair Tokyo is more prominent than ever before.
ART FAIR TOKYO’s Rise with Curated Platforms and International Galleries
Installation view of ART FAIR TOKYO 2024; Courtesy of ART FAIR TOKYO.
Debuting more expansive exhibition booths, as well as a more varied program, ART FAIR TOKYO 19 will welcome visitors to experience three curated platforms: Gallery, Crossing, and Projects. In this vein, highly relevant cultural conversations are sparked within the booths themselves as well as between platforms, offering insights on the profound impact of the human imagination.
With the extensive Galleries category, notable participating art spaces hailing from Tokyo include Gallery Tsubaki, GYOKUEI, Gallery Hokuouki, A Lighthouse called Kanata, Nishimura Gallery, and many more. In addition, spaces like Galerie Taménaga (Tokyo/Paris/Osaka/Kyoto), YUMEKOUBOU GALLERY (Kyoto/Hong Kong/Paris), and PERROTIN (Paris/ Hong Kong/ New York/ Seoul/ Tokyo/Shanghai/ Los Angeles/ London) bring new artistic horizons from across the world.
Within Crossing, Kagawa Urushi Lacquer Work Institute (Takamatsu), KOGEI Art Gallery Ginza no Kanazawa (Kanazawa), POLA ART FOUNDATION (Tokyo), gallery deux poissons (Tokyo), and more will mesmerize all ages with skillful and soulful presentations.
Further, the Projects category merges AIN SOPH DISPATCH (Nagoya), BEAK 585 GALLERY (Osaka), KOKI ARTS (Tokyo), and YUKI-SIS (Tokyo), just to name a new, dazzling art aficionados with their creative prowess and fearless investigations.
Mori Art Museum’s Must-See Exhibition During ART FAIR TOKYO Week
Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, “Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power, Since 1500,” 2023,
Installation view: “Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power, 1500–2025,” Osservatorio Fondazione Prada, Milan, 2023-2024
Photo: Piercarlo Quecchia – DSL Studio,
Photo courtesy: Fondazione Prada; Courtesy of the artists and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
Coinciding with the remarkable fair, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum is currently showcasing the immersive exhibition “MACHINE LOVE: Video Game, AI and Contemporary Art,” on view through June 8. In the midst of our swiftly evolving digital era, the eminent museum perceptively turns our attention to the way in which virtual reality and state-of-the art technology is influencing humanity.
The enthralling presentation joins 50 contemporary artworks deftly utilizing AI, game engines, VR, as well as robust generative AI. Machines and artists here intertwine in a dance of large-scale installations which beguile and kindle optimistic solutions for a brighter tomorrow. Featured artists include Beeple, Kate Crawford and Vladen Joler, Diemut, Fujikura Asako, Hsu Chia-Wei, Kim Ayoung, Lu Yang, Sato Ryotaro, Jacolby Satterwhite, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Adrián Villar Rojas, and Anika Yi.
Curated by Mori Art Museum visionaries Kataoka Mami (Director), Martin Germann (Adjunct Curator), and Yahagi Manabu (Associate Curator), the singular exhibition pursues contemplation of our machine age, the visceral emotions it triggers, and the philosophical query of how AI will continue to evolve.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen,
“The Ephemeral Lake,”
2024, Live simulation and generative spatial sound,
Commission: Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany, Installation view: “The Ephemeral Lake,” Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2024,
Photo: Altay Tuz; Courtesy of the artist and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
