[Press Release]
ASIA NOW, Paris Asian Art Fair
19 – 23 October 2016
ASIA NOW, the “boutique art fair” dedicated to contemporary Asian art, will take place from October 19 to 23, 2016, in a new exhibition space located at 9 Avenue Hoche in Paris.
For its second edition, ASIA NOW is broadening perspectives on contemporary Asian art and its growing market, showcasing both established and emerging artists to demonstrate its value and potential. ASIA NOW pursues its mission to uncover the richness and variety of artistic creation in Asia.
ASIA NOW will gather over 30 galleries (compared to 18 galleries in 2015), representing artists from more than 12 Asian territories including Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam.
Among those newly represented in the fair this year: Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong) showcasing the works of a selection of photographers, including Trevor Yeung, and a mechanic installation of Leung Chi Wo. MadeIn Gallery (Shanghai, China) presenting artists Xu Zhen, Wang Sishun and Lu Pingyuan, Rossi & Rossi (Hong Kong; London, UK) exhibiting several Tibetan artists including Kerang Landmark and Tenzing Rigdol,
Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Singapore) with Zheng Lu and Hiroshi Senju, Tang Contemporary (Beijing, China; Hong Kong; Bangkok, Thailand) showing artist Cai Lei, and Gallery EXIT (Hong Kong) who will present a solo exhibition of Kong Chun Hei.
Participating for the first time will be galleries URANO (Tokyo, Japan), Chi-Wen Gallery with Chien Chi-Chang (Taipei, Taiwan), Fabien Fryns Fine Art (Beijing) with a project of Li Wei presented first time in Europe at ASIA NOW, L-Art Gallery (Chengdu, China), Zhang Ya, Zhang Tianjun and Zhou Hang, Magician Space (Beijing), showing Liu Yefu paired with Paris-based performance and video artist Yao Qingmei, Misa Shin Gallery (Tokyo) focusing on three Japanese artists Shomei Tomatsu, Tsuyoshi Ozawa and Ysuko Iba, Park Ryu Sook Gallery (Seoul, South Korea) with Seulgi Lee, Tabula Rasa Gallery (Beijing) with Zhong Yunshu, Tu Hongtao and Yuan Yuan, news of the world (London) featuring Teow Yue Han and the Hanoi Doclab, The Columns Gallery (Seoul) with Um Tai Jung, Chang Sang Hwa, Kim Guilin, Park Seo Bo, Ha Chong Hyun and Hur Hwang, The Drawing Room (Makati City, Philippines) with a dual show of Gaston Damag and Manuel Ocampo, Vanguard Gallery (Shanghai, China) with Peng Yun, and Galerie Paris-Beijing (Paris) with Gong Jian, Li Jinghu, Chen Yujun & Chen Yufan, Fu Site, Song Kun and Wang Haiyang.
Also featured are Yeo Workshop (Singapore), presenting Santi Wangchuan’s works using various forms of textile, as well as Edmond Gallery (Berlin, Germany) with the photo installations of Hu Weiyi.
Among the galleries already involved in ASIA NOW’s 2015 edition: 313 Art Project (Seoul, Korea) presenting Lee Wan, A2Z Art Gallery (Paris, France; Hong Kong) showing Hom Nyguen, Zhang Lehua, Zhou Yilun and Ji Jun, A Thousand Plateaus Art Space (Chengdu), with Chen Qiulin, CHOI&LAGER (Seoul; Cologne, Germany), presenting Ayoung Kim and Heinkuhn Oh, ifa Gallery (Brussels, Belgium) with Xu Zhe’s video works, Leo Xu Projects (Shanghai), Madga Danysz Gallery (Paris; Shanghai; London), with Liu Bolin, JR, Li Hongbo, and Tadashi Kawamata, Primo Marella Gallery and Primae Noctis Art Gallery (Milan, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland) showcasing artists He Sen, Chen Shaoxiong, Jeremy
Sharma, Farhan Siki, Kenji Sugiyama, Nguyen Thai Tuan, He Wei, and Sa Sa Bassac(Phnom Penh, Cambodia).
ASIA NOW aims to create a close connection between the collector and artists and their works. The second edition will be staged in the intimate atmosphere of a Haussmannian building, through which visitors will be able to wander from one room to the other as they would in a collector’s home.
THE PROGRAMME
An ideal platform for dialogue and exchange committed to the promotion of contemporaryAsian art, ASIA NOW is extending its program for its second edition, with new projects and performances featured:
- A group exhibition curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, in collaboration with Matthias Arndt (founder of A3) will be dedicated to Southeast Asia’s art scene, including artists from the Philippines and Indonesia such as Eko Nugroho.
- At ASIA NOW, Shang Xia and Christie’s will continue the dialogue on Chinese Contemporary Design having already had two years of successful collaboration in Shanghai, New York and Paris. Twelve pieces designed by Shang Xia – the leading brand of Chinese contemporary design and craft of Hermès group – will once again illustrate the creativity and vibrancy of today’s China, a society that cares about its history and cultural
legacy.
- news of the world, a non-commercial and not-for-profit organisation and research studio curated by Pierre Coinde will be presenting two projects which will reveal the thinking processes in contemporary visual media. It focuses on the creative process of Asian artists working within the context of globalization. There will be a non-stop screening of the Hanoi Doclab exhibition and a performance piece by Singaporean artist Teow Yue Han.
- A Women’s Independence show curated by Magda Danysz, commissioned by Etam to celebrate its 100th anniversary, will present the works of 10 artists including Li Hongbo, Stella Sujin, Jeanne Susplugas and Daniel Otero Torres. The art commissions will be first unveiled at K11 art museum in Shanghai, then at ASIA NOW. After the fair, the artworks will be sold at a charity auction and the profits will be donated to the Naked Heart
Foundation
founded by Natalia Vodianova.
Further details to come.
‘ASIA NOW seeks to pursue its ambition of bringing attention to contemporary Asian art in an innovative and thorough manner and through a variety of media. Our goal is to shed light on the vast range of this artistic scene through a programme of intelligible and powerful exhibitions, inviting visitors to rethink contemporary Asian art without the clichés often attached to it. ASIA NOW is the ideal place to discover already established artists, recognized by both local and international specialists, yet overlooked to this day by Western audiences.’
Alexandra Fain
Director and co-founder of ASIA NOW