2015.09.11 Fri, by
ASIA NOW – PARIS ASIAN ART FAIR SHINES A LIGHT ON THE CONTEMPORARY ASIAN ART SCENE

[Press Release]

From October 20 to 22, 2015
Espace Pierre Cardin, 1 avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris

Opening up, breaking down the barriers, exploring, and sharing: ASIA NOW is an exceptional fair that allows its audience to freshly reconsider contemporary Asian art. In the face of commonplace shortcuts, this event is about giving the floor to artists, critics, and galleries who stand for, encourage, and promote this geography’s rich artistic diversity. With a consistent, coherent program of outstanding exhibitions, alongside engaging and relevant interchanges, this event guides audiences away from the beaten track. ASIA NOW wishes to re-ignite thoughtful exploration of the gaps, grey or unknown areas of its multifaceted reality that is too easily ignored or cast aside by contemporary creation in motion. Indeed, there may not be specifically Asian art as such, for art today is of course plural, open, nonclassifiable. It is precisely this incredibly vibrant yet almost imperceptible creative flux of which we hope to provide a faithful showcase.
—Caroline Ha Thuc, art critic, writer and curator.

The residual images that we all have on Asian contemporary art of which we often know more the market value than the actual scene  may have to be reviewed. It is at least something to be discovered. With this first edition, Asia Now’s goal is to shine a light on the Asian art scene.
Alexandra Fain, co-founder of ASIA NOW – Paris Asian Art Fair

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ASIA NOW – Paris Asian Art Fair is the first boutique art fair in France and Europe to bring a new perspective to contemporary Asian art and shine a light on all it has to offer to the international scene.

From October 20th to 22nd—just after FRIEZE and ahead of the FIAC art week (with two days’ overlap)—ASIA NOW–Paris Asian Art Fair invites collectors and art lovers to a programme of exhibitions and events, which aims to examine unknown areas of Asian art, paving the way for artists, critics and galleries who stand for and promote the whole continent’s artistic diversity.

Consisting of three major highlights, ASIA NOW’s 2015 programme conveys and shares the current position of the Asian art scene, and the challenges which it faces. Presenting and exploring artistic practices of 40 artists, ASIA NOW – Paris Asian Art Fair works against current stereotypes and allows its audience to look afresh at contemporary Asian art.

The “Exhibition” section focuses on solo or group shows from the most talented artists of their generation, supported by leading and cutting-edge galleries, some of whom will be presenting in Europe for the first time. ASIA NOW is based on an idea from Claude Fain, and is led by Alexandra Fain, director and co-founder of the fair with artistic advisor Amik Barak, in collaboration with the artistic board of ASIA NOW.

For its first edition, ASIA NOW—Paris Asian Art Fair gathers 18 galleries from Asia and Europe all driven by the will to represent Asian artists. These are:

ARNDT Fine Art (Berlin/Singapore) featuring the works of the Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho and Filipino artist Rodel Tapaya; CHOI&LAGER (Cologne) curating a group show of Korean artists; A Thousand Plateaus Art Space (Chengdu) – for the first time in Europe — bringing together Chen Qiulin and Yang Shu’s works; New Galerie (Paris/New York) showing “Truth”, a video project by the artist Wang Sishun; Leo Xu Projects presenting the work of Cheng Ran; Edouard Malingue Gallery focusing on the Taiwanese artist Chou Yu-Cheng who had a solo exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum; AIKE-DELLARCO (Shanghai) showing an unseen work by Tao Hui; A2Z Art Gallery (Paris) which will present the new project by Li Wei, STILL NOBODY CARES; Gallery Naruyama (Tokyo) showing the artist Atsushi Suwa ; De Sarthe Gallery (Hong Kong/ Beijing); Galerie Quynh (Ho Chi Minh City); ifa gallery (Brussels/Shanghai); Galerie Magda Danysz (Paris/Shanghai); galerie Michael Janssen (Singapore/Berlin); Primo Marella Gallery (Milan); Richard Koh Fine Art (Kuala Lumpur) ; Sa Sa Bassac (Cambodia) and 313 ART PROJECT gallery (Seoul).

Conducted in parallel with the galleries artistic display, ASIA NOW – Paris Asian Art Fair invites 3 specific curatorial projects:

Robin Peckham (Deputy Editor of LEAP Magazine) will present the LEAP Pavillion and curate a group exhibition of Hong Kong artists — including Lee Kit and Tsang Kin-Wah — who respectively represented Hong Kong in the 55th and 56th Venice Biennales. BLAST!, a platform dedicated to all artists of the digital generation, will conceive a special project developed in parallel with Art in the City Festival (from September 11 to 14, 2015 in Shanghai). Finally, Perfect Design, based in Shanghai and co-founded by Jean-Marc Decrop and Morgan Morris, is invited by ASIA NOW to present their selection of “the best creation in China” by five of the top designers of their country.

Xu Qu, an artist of the young Chinese generation, has been commissioned by the Mimi Ullens Foundation to produce a set of objects exclusively for ASIA NOW and in limited edition, inspired by its own work, in favour of the fight against cancer. (Xu Qu is represented in Asia by Yallay Space and in France by the Almine Rech gallery).

For this first edition of ASIA NOW, a specific project titled “Beyond the walls” will be shown at the Park Hyatt hotel. The gallery Magda Danysz (Paris/Shanghai) will display “Eternal Smile,” an installation by the artist Wang Keping. Also, for the France-Korea Year, the galleries CHOI&LAGER and 313 ART PROJECT, led by Joanne Kim, will present a specific project with Koreans artists, to be specified in due time.

The second highlight is “Conversations”, a set of talks co-curated by LEAP Magazine, which will be hosted by experts of the Asian art scene such as Robin Peckham, Deputy Editor of LEAP Magazine and Managing Editor of the French edition; in tight collaboration with Jérôme Sans. Talks include:

Corentin Hamel and Ami Barak will speak about the project Truth of Wang Sishun— “The artist went on a journey of 6 weeks from Beijing to Paris, in order to bring back a flame, the survivor of a devastating fire, a relic turned into art by Wang Sishun.” Ami Barak.

Institutional directors such as Phil Tinari (director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing), will also be present.

Established curators and art critics include Jérôme Sans (consultant and art critic, specialist in China), Caroline Ha Thuc (art critic, writer and curator), Martina Köppel-Yang (Asian art historian), Ami Barak (art critic and curator), Jo-ey Tang (curator of “Inside China” at the Palais de Tokyo in collaboration with K11), Jean-Marc Decrop (European expert in Chinese art), Erin Gleeson (curator of the Satellite 8 program at Jeu de Paume and co-founder of Sa Sa Bassac), Karen Levy (co-founder of The Art of this Century), and Shen Qilan (writer, art critic and curator).

Pioneers and passionate collectors of Asian art will include Guy Ullens (founder of the Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation), and Guillaume Levy-Lambert (founder of MaGMA Collection).

Art market specialists from major auction houses will include Laure Raibaut (expert in contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong).

The ASIA NOW programme concludes with “Exploration”, which will gather a selection of reference publications dealing with the Asian art scene, thanks to the partnership with the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Bookshop.

On this occasion, LEAP Magazine, which specialises in Contemporary Asian Art, will launch its first European edition.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Espace Pierre Cardin, 1 avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris

Preview (by invitation only): October 19 from 2 pm to 6.30 pm

Opening (by invitation only): October 19 from 6.30 pm to 9 pm

Opening days:
October 20, from 11am to 9 pm

October 21 from 11am to 10 pm
October 22 from 11 to 7.30 pm

DIRECTORS AND ARTISTIC BOARD

Alexandra Fain is co-founder and director of ASIA NOW – Paris Asian Art Fair. After graduating from Chelsea and London School of Economics, she worked for eleven years at Publicis Worldwide and Publicis Conseil in Paris. She then spent four years (2010-14) at the Richemont Group as the Director of Marketing and Communications at Lancel. During the 56th Venice Biennale, Alexandra conceived and organised an exhibition by Zheng Guogu and Yangjiang Group at Palazzo Morosini: The Writings of Today are a Promise for Tomorrow, curated by Martina Köppel-Yang.

Ami Barak is an internationally known curator and art critic based in Paris. In France, he was the Artistic Director and Coordinator of Nuit Blanche, Paris (2003 and 2004). More recently, he curated an exhibition of Taryn Simon’s work at Jeu de Paume in 2015. Internationally, his most recent major curatorial project was Art for the World [the Expo] the City of Forking Paths, the Sculpture Project at the Expo Boulevard at the World Expo Shanghai 2010, featuring twenty monumental sculptures by Chinese and international artists; and curated the Romanian Pavilion in the Venice Biennale in 2011.

LIST OF ARTISTS BY COUNTRY OR TERRITORY

China: Tao Hui (1987/AIKE-DELLARCO gallery), Wang Keping (1949/Magda Danysz gallery); Li Wei (1975), Ji Zhou (1970), Zhang Litao (1973) at A2Z Art Gallery; Chen Qiulin (1975), Yang Shu (1969), Wang Chuan (1953) and Li Lang (1969) at A Thousand Plateaus Art Space; Xu Qu (1978/Mimi Ullens Foundation) ; Wang Sishun (1979/ New Gallery), Cheng Ran (1981/Leo Xu Projects; Lin Jingjing (1970), Ma Sibo (1979), Wang Guofeng (1967) and Zhou Wendou (1970) at De Sarthe Gallery; Gao Brothers (1962/1956), Dai Guangyu (1955), Wu Junyong (1978) et Zhang Dali (1963), at ifa gallery

Cambodia: Svay Sareth (1972/Sa Sa Bassac)

Hong Kong: Nadim Abbas (1980), Lee Kit (1977), Firenze Lai (1984), Tsang Kin-Wah (1976), Adrian Wong (1980), Trevor Yeung (1988), presented by LEAP Pavillion.

Korea: Heung-soon Lim (1969), Meekyoung Shin (1967), Seahyun Lee (1967), Xooang Choi (1975), Younghun Kim (1964), Jukhee Kwon (1981) at CHOI&LAGER

Indonesia: Eko Nugroho (1977/ARNDT Fine Art)

Japan: Atsushi Suwa (1967/ Gallery Naruyama)

Malaysia: Nadiah Bamadhaj (1968) and Wong Pern Fey (1974) Richard Koh Fine Art

Philippines: Ronald Ventura (1973/Primo Marella Gallery); Rodel Tapaya (1980/ARNDT Fine Art)

Taiwan: Chou Yu-Cheng (1976/Edouard Malingue Gallery)

Thaïlande: Natee Utarit (1970/Richard Koh Fine Art)

Vietnam: Hoang Duong Cam (1974) and Trong Gia Nguyen (1971) at Galerie Quynh, Nguyen Tuan Thai (1965/ Primo Marella Gallery)

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

ARNDT Fine Art (Berlin/Singapore): Eko Nugroho et Rodel Tapaya

A Thousand Plateaus Art Space (Chengdu): Chen Qiulin, Yang Shu, Li Lang and Wang Chuan

AIKE-DELLARCO (Shanghai): Tao Hui

A2Z Art Gallery (Paris): Ji Zhou, Zhang Litao and Li Wei

CHOI&LAGER (Cologne): Heung-soon Lim, Meekyoung Shin, Seahyun Lee, Xooang Choi, Younghun Kim, Jukhee Kwon

De Sarthe Gallery: Lin Jingjing, Ma Sibo, Wang Guofeng and Zhou Wendou

Edouard Malingue Gallery (Hong Kong): Chou Yu-Cheng

Galerie Quynh (Ho Chi Minh City): Hoang Duong Cam and Trong Gia Nguyen

Galerie 313 ART PROJECT (Seoul)

Galerie Magda Danysz (Paris/Shanghai): Wang Keping, Prune Nourry

Galerie Michael Janssen (Singapore/Berlin)

Gallery Naruyama (Tokyo): Atsushi Suwa

ifa gallery (Brussels/Shanghai): Gao Brothers, Dai Guangyu, Wu Junyong and Zhang Dali

LEAP magazine (Beijing): Nadim Abbas, Lee Kit, Firenze Lai, Tsang Kin-Wah, Adrian Wong, Trevor Yeung

Leo Xu Projects (Shanghai): Cheng Ran

Mimi Ullens Foundation (Brussels) : Xu Qu

New Galerie (Paris): Wang Sishun

Primo Marella Gallery (Milan): Li Wei, Nguyen Tuan Thai and Ronald Ventura

Richard Koh Fine Art (Kuala Lumpur): Natee Utari,Nadiah Bamadhaj, Wong Pern Fey

Sa Sa Bassac (Cambodia): Svay Sareth

LIST OF SPEAKERS

Phil Tinari (Director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing)

Jérôme Sans (consultant and art critic, specialist of China)

Caroline Ha Thuc (art critic, writer and curator)

Martina Köppel-Yang (Asian art historian)

Ami Barak (art critic and curator of Art for the World [the Expo] the City of Forking Paths)

Erin Gleeson (Director of Sa Sa Bassac and curator)

Karen Levy (co-founder of The Art of this Century)

Guy Ullens (founder of Guy et Myriam Ullens Foundation)

Guillaume Levy-Lambert (founder of MaGMA Collection)

Laure Raibaut (expert in contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong)

Corentin Hamel (gallery owner, New Galerie)

Jean-Marc Decrop (Europen expert in Chinese art)

Shen Qilan (writer, art critic and curator)