Room 1410, office 339 (Shanghai), Photo: Erika Kusumi

Office 339 from Shanghai is a contemporary art managing company that is expanding a network based in Shanghai. This year, they displayed artworks with a solo exhibit style. They put a focus on Shi Jin-ling, this means that a popular artist paints people in a situation from a high perspective that gives multiple meaning, for example a situation which could lead on to so many different stories. Art lovers pay large amounts of money for this kind of work at art auctions. A couple of works that they brought were “Performer” and “Trainer”.

Room 1412, Galerie Grand Siècle (Taipei), Photo: Erika Kusumi

Galerie Grand Siècle from Taipei introduces Taiwanese contemporary art, especially new media art, to the world art market. They exhibited a new work by Su TzuHan, whose 3D sculpture looks like a clear miniature garden was used on the Art Fair poster in the previous year. The work is flat with constructed views made by piling up geometric shapes.

Room 1411, LeeSeoul Gallery (Seoul), Photo: Erika Kusumi

LeeSeoul Gallery from Seoul introduces various contemporary Korean artists to Japan every year. Near the entrance, they displayed an acrylic painting, which looked like a triangle quilting on an octagonal canvas, called “in my heart” by Kim Yun-Jeong, a painting of dragonfly wings flying in a light dark sky by Seo Ink-yung, 3D wall-hanging artworks that people can wear as jewelries, and on a bed, an imaginary landscape painting called “My Forest” by Hwang Hye-Jin. They were all beautiful work using various colours and painting styles.

Room 1304, Dohjidai Gallery of Art (Kyoto), Photo: Erika Kusumi

Galleries based outside of Tokyo were all located on the 13th floor. Dohjidai Gallery of Art has been discovering and training new generations of artists to communicate to foreign countries through art as a social culture in Kyoto, where old Japanese traditions still exist. They exhibited many art works with new expressions, utilizing traditional art technics. Both Tomoe Sasaki and Moemi Sasaki use lacquer and create abstract artwork to express beauty in different ways. Bungo Saito‘s “Hoshi Kumano,” at first looks like a landscape painting of a forest at night with stars shining in the sky, but this is actually a photograph of the real landscape. When people see the piece in person, they doubt that the scenery is real since it has such sacred beauty.