GEISAI#18 concluded on Monday, April 29, 2013.
Interviews with the exhibitors who placed fourth through tenth in the audience survey.
Thank you so much to all of the exhibitors and visitors to GEISAI#18, held on the fourth and fifth floors of the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center’s Taito Hall.
・Total number of exhibitors: 225
・Total number of visitors: 2,494
The jurors included the CEO of Good Smile Company Takanori Aki, famous for the creation of “Nendoroido,” and KAWS, who is one of the most popular street artists around and currently holding an exhibition at Kaikai Kiki Gallery. Also on the jury was Koichi Watari, the important curator of Watari Museum of Contemporary Art who has impacted the Japanese art scene in numerous meaningful ways.
They kindly examined every single booth – all 225!
Please click the link below to view all recipients at GEISAI#18.
http://www.facebook.com/GEISAI
We also want to extend a special thanks to the special exhibition booths.
Artist collective Ryodan, winners of the Takayo Iida Award at GEISAI#16, and Shugyo Kawakami, winner of the Makoto Aida Award at GESAI#12, teamed up to create a live communication space entitled “Akihabara Monparnasse Shuchoban.” Many exhibitors and guests were seen taking part in the discussion.
Artist Yoko Ishii recreated his exhibition “Yokai Inujima,” which was awarded first place in the audience survey at GEISAI#17 and later opened to massive popularity at Hidari Zingaro. This time, too, there were lines forming as early as 1 hour before the opening and a sea of people could be found in the booth’s vicinity at all times.
In the Turner Cooler Works live painting space on the fifth floor, we were pleased to collaborate with Live Paint DOJO. The participants were Doppel (http://www.doppel.to/home.html ), Jun Inoue (http://juninoue.jp/
), and Dragon76 (http://www13.plala.or.jp/dragon-76/ ).
Lastly, Holbein was kind enough to contribute a booth devoted to badge painting. As badges at GEISAI#18 were free to carry home, visitors stopped by the table to create their own customized commemorative items. Even staff members from KAWS’s studio were seen painting with furious concentration.
After announcing the awards, the jurors and Takashi Murakami discussed their methods for producing artworks and gave advice to the audience..
And to our surprise, collector and gallerist Nico Delaive later made a sudden appearance and commandeered the space for his own ad-lib talk. He was accompanied by Yuina Wada, who was previously awarded the Shin Suzuki Prize at GEISAI#17.
Thank you again to all of the exhibitors and visitors. Exhibitions for the GEISAI#18 Award Recipients will be held from May 30 at Hidari Zingao in Nakano. Please stop by to see their work.
An announcement for those new to the application process: At GEISAI#19, there will be no age limit for applicants. There will, however, be a pre-screening. We look forward to hearing from you.
