G-tokyo art fair: 15 galleries, one location

Considering how scattered Tokyo's galleries are, the opportunity to see exhibitions from 15 of the city's leading galleries all in one place is one to relish. G-tokyo 2010, a new contemporary art fair, happens over the weekend of January 29-31 at the very accessible Mori Arts Center Gallery.

While other fairs pride themselves on their impressive size, G-tokyo (the "G" stands for "gallery") will be small, focused and comfortable. Curators are emphasizing new works by Japanese artists, though a handful of international works will make an appearance too.

"All the participating galleries will present either solo artist shows consisting of mostly brand-new works or projects specially created for G-tokyo," said director Toshiko Ferrier. "This is going to be an attractive experience not only for first-time collectors but also for experienced collectors who have been to various art fairs around the world."

Given the intimate scope and January date, G-tokyo can be compared to Art@Agnes, the fair that ran for five consecutive years inside the rooms of the Agnes Hotel in Kagurazaka. In fact, G-tokyo was born after the perennially popular event declared 2009 to be its final year. "After Art@Agnes ended, five gallerists began nourishing the idea of starting a very new style of art fair from scratch," said Ferrier, who worked previously on the selection committee for 2009's 101 Tokyo art fair.

In addition to the opportunity to browse, mingle and buy (or just get a sneak peak into the Tokyo art world), G-Tokyo will hold a series of artist-meets-architect discussion sessions to mark the debut of the new webzine "Art and Architecture Review," edited by Team Roundabout and produced by ArtIt Co. Ltd. (The talks will unfortunately not be translated.) The seats for these discussions are almost sold out completely. But judging by the small audiences for art galleries in Japan compared to the public's appreciation of new buildings, perhaps the architects are the greater draw.

Even the director Ferrier herself refers to Tokyo's urban landscape in the course of her abstract appeal: "We also see G-tokyo as a map of Tokyo galleries that charts treasure islands and their allure." Time to start treasure hunting.

G-tokyo will be open to the public Jan 30 and 31. For more details see: www.gtokyo-art.com/english/information.html