More than 8000 art aficionados were eager to enter through the doors of Omotesando Hills over the weekend (Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May 2016) as Tokyo city hosted the second Tokyo International Art Fair organised by the Global Art Agency (GAA Ltd).
The Space-O hall at the venue was arranged to perfection with over 150 artist and gallery stands from over 30 countries from around the world. The atmosphere was charged with positive vibes as visitors took in the wide range of original art available and took pieces they had purchased home.
Visitors were sipping away on Martini Champagne and Bombay Sapphire Cocktails sponsored by Bacardi Japan, whilst looking around to invest into a piece of original art.
Exhibitor Sabet from California sold one of his original paintings "Snow Monkey" for a substantial price of ¥1,300,000. He said; "Thank you to Global Art Agency for giving me a platform to sell here at the Tokyo International Art Fair - it has been amazing and I'll forever be grateful to the GAA team! Can't wait till next year!"
Tahe D from Tahiti said; "Thanks to this event I have sold my art and most importantly I am now sponsored by Air Tahiti and Tropical Vision. It has been amazing!"
Ernesto Heen who was represented at the Digital Art Showcase: "Thank you for the great Tokyo International Art Fair. Promoting my work that was shown on the Digital Art Screens even if I couldn’t be there in person. I look forward to the next occasion and would like to congratulate all participating artists and the GAA Art Event Team for their great work."
Frank van der Meijden from the Netherlands sold completely out after he met a collector coming all the way from Spain to the event. "I am over the moon, I had one of the biggest stands and I completely sold out. Big thanks to the organisation."
Frank wasn't the only one that sold out. Shane Bowden (Australia, living in San Diego) represented by the New York Gallery (Japan) sold also completely out and was one of the highlights of the show.
Visitors also enjoyed the Me-Fie booth were they could create long-lasting TIAf 2016 memories in the form of selfies with special effects.
The Contemporary Art of Excellence Book Volume II was in populair demand at the event, with over 150 books sold at the fair to collectors coming from as far as United States, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The weekend culminated in the announcement on Saturday afternoon of the winner of the "Best Tokyo International Art Fair Artist" in show by both the panel of judges and members of the public.
First place went to August Vilella (Barcelona) who creates oil paintings by means of a surreal-intuitive method. Second place went to Sezon Art Gallery (Tokyo), and third price to Shingo420 (Tokyo). The Facebook competition winner voted by the public went to Babtiste Tavernier
Organisers of the fair; Satoshi Maruhashi, Joëlle Dinnage and Natal Vallvé from the Global Art Agency added their appreciation to the city’s reaction to the event and the enthusiasm they found from artists and visitors alike.
“TIAF 2016 was a great success not only for the big amount of visitors and sales, but also for the fine selection of exhibitors from all around the world. It was a window of what's going on in the Contemporary Art world nowadays due the best artists from different countries from around the world represented the style, the concept and new languages from each country showing the different personalities in the art world." Natal Vallvé said.
Joëlle Dinnage organiser added: "I am extremely happy with the sales this year, it has exceeded last year's event in Tokyo. The first prize winner of this year's Best TIAF Artist Award August Vilella is in the process of selling 3 artworks worth $45,000 in total. This is a substantial amount for an individual emerging artist, and shows how much new talent is out there that has huge potential. Seeing the exhibitors so fulfilled makes us very happy."
“We’ll be back for more in 2017 and are already planning next year’s event,” Satoshi Maruhashi said.
For more information on next year’s Tokyo International Art Fair and other forthcoming events, please visit www.tokyoartfair.com or www.globalartagency.com Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GlobalArtAgency and follow us on Twitter
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Press contacts:
Satoshi Maruhahi agent@globalartagency.com
