Despite persistent heavy rain in Tokyo, the preview for Tokyo Gendai 2026 opened yesterday (September 10th) to a robust crowd. Some 69 galleries are taking part in the fourth edition of the fair, which returns to the PACIFICO in Yokohama.
Regional collectors were out in force, particularly from Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Singapore, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many international collectors, particularly those traveling from farther afield such as India and the United States, came directly from South Korea following Seoul Art Week and the Gwangju Biennale. Others flew in from Europe specifically for the fair.
Nadine van den Bosch, director of the Collectors’ Club in the Netherlands, told Artsy that the group had organized a delegation of more than 10 European collectors to visit Tokyo, with many arriving with an empty suitcase in anticipation of purchases.
Despite economic turbulence in Japan this year—underscored by joint currency interventions by Japanese and U.S. monetary authorities to stabilize the yen—many exhibitors continue to be drawn to the market by Japan’s formidable institutional ecosystem and the active international footprint of its collector base. “Japanese collectors are always present at the fairs we attend globally, making them an essential component of the international collecting community,” said Alexander Gabriel Pirinoli, private sales representative at TAEX. Pirinoli also pointed to the deep global integration of Japanese institutions, which consistently stage internationally resonant exhibitions across the country.
“Given the broader global economic climate, collectors are naturally being more cautious,” noted Elisa Uematsu, a representative of Taka Ishii Gallery. “However, we’ve found that international collectors remain eager to visit Japan, as many deeply appreciate Japanese culture. Combined with a weak yen, presenting emerging Japanese artists at accessible price points makes investing in younger talent feel like a lower-risk proposition.”
Tokyo Gendai previously shifted its dates from July to September to align with Seoul Art Week in a bid to capture cross-regional collector traffic. While that strategy proved effective, the fair has now announced another major evolution: relocating from Yokohama to central Tokyo’s Ariake GYM-EX and moving its calendar to November next year to coincide directly with Art Week Tokyo. Originally built as a gymnastics arena for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, Ariake GYM-EX has since been redeveloped by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government into a dedicated exhibition hall.
The fair’s co-founder Magnus Renfrew explained that the team had long been searching for the right venue in central Tokyo: “Once Ariake GYM-EX became available following its renovation, we immediately entered negotiations to secure the dates. This move allows Tokyo Gendai to further anchor a singularly compelling moment for Japan’s cultural scene in a month brimming with local events, as the country’s creative landscape comes alive for domestic and international audiences alike.”
Here are Artsy’s five best booths from the fair.
TAEX
Booth T02
With works by Marina Abramović, Kevin Abosch, Francesco D’Isa, Ryan Koopmans, and Alice Wexell
Digital gallery TAEX makes its Tokyo Gendai debut with a group presentation spanning digital performance, synthetic photography, AI-generated imagery, and computational world-building by artists including Marina Abramović, Kevin Abosch, Francesco D’Isa, and Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell.
The centerpieces of the booth include Slow Walking (2026), a limited-edition monumental LED installation by Abramović. The piece forms part of a curated series reimagined by the artist, drawing on her 55-year career as the “godmother of performance art.” In the work, Abramović’s digital avatar moves at a deliberate, unhurried pace across the screen, turning the simple act of walking into a meditative ritual of endurance and heightened awareness.
Feeling Energy #3, 2026
Marina Abramović
TAEX
Slow Walking, 2026
Marina Abramović
TAEX
Oranda, 2026
Kevin Abosch
TAEX
Natural Order, 2025
Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell, Alice Wexell
TAEX
Foils 1, 2026
Francesco D'Isa
TAEX
Foils 2, 2026
Francesco D'Isa
TAEX
Pirinoli of TAEX noted that placing Abramović at the center of their Tokyo debut was a natural choice: as a foundational figure in performance art who has visited Japan frequently and received multiple accolades in the country, her work commands deep respect among Japanese audiences. TAEX offers Abramović’s digital works between $10,000 and $65,000, with pieces by other gallery artists priced from $8,000 to $50,000.
Form Gallery
Booth H13
With works by Ksenia Malafeeva
First-time fair participant Form Gallery presents a solo booth featuring Ksenia Malafeeva’s ongoing photographic project, “Ordinary Life.” In this series, Malafeeva turns her camera toward everyday domestic scenes and objects, testing the boundaries of perception. In one series, close-up compositions of ceramic bowls are rendered in hues that match their backgrounds exactly, flattening form and space into near-metaphysical abstraction.
Offered at price points ranging from €2,000 ($2,320) to €16,000 ($18,564), Malafeeva’s work carries a subtle visual language that resonates locally. Gallery director Dimitri Bogachuk noted that during past fair presentations at photo basel and Paris Photo, collectors frequently associated the quiet serenity of Malafeeva’s compositions with Japanese aesthetics, making a Tokyo solo debut an intuitive next step.
Art of Nature Contemporary
Booths S04 and H13
With works by Wu Guanzhen and Qin Feng
Hong Kong–based gallery Art of Nature Contemporary presents dual solo booths featuring the work of Chinese artists Wu Guanzhen and Qin Feng.
A standout is Qin’s practice, which is featured in the fair’s Sato (“Meadow”) sector—a dedicated platform for site-specific installations and live performances. Subverting the traditional, horizontal viewing method of Chinese scroll painting, Qin’s installation features a massive ink scroll suspended overhead, anchored by dozens of calligraphic paper fans arrayed across the floor. Together, they form a sweeping, continuous ink line that moves dynamically through the fair’s architecture.
Pragmatist Philosophy V , 2016
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
慾望風景 0100 Series Desire Scenery 0100, 2011
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
Round Sky and Square Earth Series 0637 天圓地方系列0637, 2021
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
Round Sky and Square Earth Series 0612 天圓地方系列0612, 2021
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
Desire Scenery Series 2-m-3-4 欲望風景系列 2-m-3-4, 2016
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
Violet and Flower-26.08.01 紫色和花-26.08.01, 2026
Wu GuanZhen 吳觀真
Art of Nature Contemporary
Violet and Flower-26.08.02 紫色和花-26.08.01, 2026
Wu GuanZhen 吳觀真
Art of Nature Contemporary
That Water-26.08.02 那水-26.08.02, 2026
Wu GuanZhen 吳觀真
Art of Nature Contemporary
That Water-26.08.01 那水-26.08.01, 2026
Wu GuanZhen 吳觀真
Art of Nature Contemporary
Desire Scenery Series 0417 欲望風景系列0417, 2011
Qin Feng 秦风
Art of Nature Contemporary
Gallery director Horace Lam noted that Qin’s work has garnered a strong following among Japanese collectors encountered during Hong Kong art fairs. At the booth, the individual hand fans are priced at $3,700 each, while Qin’s large-scale ink paintings range from $16,000 to $174,200.
The LA BIBI Gallery
Booth: H05
With works by Fátima de Juan and Daniel Ferstl
The visual vocabulary of kawaii and playful pop iconography remains a dominant thread across Japanese culture. At Spain- and Mexico-based LA BIBI Gallery’s booth, this aesthetic is explored through a dialogue between Fátima de Juan and Daniel Ferstl.
In de Juan’s paintings, familiar motifs—animals, vibrant flora, and stylized female figures—are reimagined through the lens of female empowerment. Raised in a conservative family in Mallorca, Spain, she first established her artistic voice through street art, carving out a space in a predominantly male graffiti scene before transitioning her practice to canvas.
Austrian artist Daniel Ferstl utilizes intricate embroidery to reference pop cultural iconography, pulling from 1970s cult cinema, contemporary video games, and internet memes. Ferstl uses these childhood visual anchors to explore the philosophical concept of “cruel optimism”—the lingering nostalgia for childhood imagery that promises comfort from an unrecoverable past. Works at the booth are priced between €2,000 ($2,320) and €15,000 ($17,405).
W-Galería
Booth: H16
With works by Max Gómez Canle
Participating in Tokyo Gendai for the first time, W-Galería dedicated its entire booth to a solo presentation by Argentine artist Max Gómez Canle, featuring a selection of recent works ranging from a monumental three-meter painting to several installations executed directly on stone and granite.
“We decided to go big in terms of exposure for our first time,” said Arístides González-Vigil, international director of the gallery. Although based in Buenos Aires, Gómez Canle has visited Japan on multiple occasions and maintains a strong artistic connection with Asia. González-Vigil noted that Japan’s deep appreciation for artisan craftsmanship naturally resonated with the artist’s technique. Built up through countless meticulous layers of pigment and incorporating raw materials like granite, each surface carries a tangible depth of texture and time.
Gómez Canle’s compositions draw on canonical Latin American geometric abstraction and European pictorial traditions while integrating references to contemporary visual culture, including video games and emojis. Suspended between the familiar and the fantastic, his landscapes on display create worlds where disparate historical periods and geographies coexist—offering a singular visual language rooted in a sensibility that challenges conventional notions of time and space. Works at the booth are priced between $9,800 and $52,000.
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