ART OSAKA 2018, a hotel-style contemporary art fair featuring 54 galleries from Japan and abroad, will be held on the 26th floor of Hotel Granvia Osaka for two days, July 7th and 8th.

KOKI ARTS, ART OSAKA 2017 Exhibition Photo by Mayuko Uno
This event is Japan's largest and most long-standing art fair specializing in contemporary art. This year marks its 16th anniversary, and the participating galleries total 54, including 21 from the Kansai region, 26 from outside the region, 3 from Taiwan, and 4 from South Korea. Of these, 4 galleries will be exhibiting for the first time, with a total of 68 exhibition booths.

Tabby "Road to Success" Stencil and spray paint on canvas, 2018 / Gallery Kawamatsu
Two galleries are participating in the new "U-35 Section," a new initiative that introduces up-and-coming young artists under the age of 35 in the form of solo exhibitions. Gallery Kawamatsu in Tokyo will be holding the first solo exhibition in Japan by masked Vienna-based artist Tabby, showcasing a series of canvas works depicting the Japanese flag titled "JAPAN EDITION." GALLERY IDF in Aichi will be showcasing Kana Sato, who uses animal motifs and combines a variety of materials, including embroidery and oil paint, to create fantastical works.

Nisoki Hiroyuki "Pear" Inkjet print, pen, spray, marker, paper 2013 / TALION GALLERY

One of the galleries participating this year for the first time, TALION GALLERY in Tokyo, will be presenting a solo exhibition of Nisoki Hiroyuki, whose work has been featured in museums as part of the framework of "contemporary painting," including digital works created with painting tools on drawing bulletin boards, at "Exhibition PLUS." At POETIC SCAPE in Tokyo, Sakiko Nomura, who has been producing works mainly featuring male nudes since the 1990s, will be exhibiting her "Ango" series, based on the novels of Ango Sakaguchi, and Capacious, which showcases the work of artists with disabilities in Osaka Prefecture, will also be exhibiting.

From overseas, Taiwan's Der-Horng Art Gallery will be showcasing Tajima Daisuke, who won the Grand Prize at the 2015 Tokyo Midtown Award for his meticulous depictions of imaginary cityscapes.

Mitsuhiro Okamoto "Dozaemon" Mixed media (urethane coating on FRP) 2017 / eitoeiko
One of the defining features of ART OSAKA is the large number of exhibitors from talented mid-career to young artists. Among those born in the 1960s are Mitsuhiro Okamoto, who has attracted considerable media attention for his work dealing with social and copyright issues, and Miyuki Yokomizo, who sees the canvas as a single space and creates new spaces through the repetition and traces of actions, using a unique method that questions the very existence of painting. Among those born in the 1980s are Ryuichi Ishikawa, winner of the Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2015 and a finalist at the Nissan Art Award in 2017, whose portraits bring diverse cultures to light; Kyoko Shindo, who has been selected for the Shell Art Award and Tokyo Wonder Wall multiple times and whose anonymous portraits interweave existential questions with her own experiences; Tsubasa Takahashi, who creates fluid yet detailed images with a blue-black ballpoint pen against a background of manga line drawings; and Yasuka Goto, winner of the 2012 Sakuyakonohana Award, who has drawn attention for her gigantic, gekiga-style war paintings exhibited at some of Japan's leading art museums. This exhibition offers a condensed and enjoyable look at the diverse yet unique artistic expressions that coexist in the same era.

Shindo Kyoko, 1930 - kiwi fruts, watercolor, acrylic, ink on paper, 2018 / YUKI-SIS

On the first day of the exhibition, July 7th, from 2pm to 3:30pm, a talk event entitled "Rethinking the 1980s Art Scene" will be held in the Crystal Room on the 20th floor of Hotel Granvia Osaka. Masahiro Yasugi, curator of the "New Wave: Contemporary Art of the 1980s" exhibition, which opens this November at the National Museum of Art, Osaka, will discuss the appeal of 1980s art with Yoshio Kato, an ART OSAKA executive committee member and of the Yoshio Kato Art Planning Office. The event is limited to 40 people and requires advance reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. To apply, please email info@artosaka.jp with your name, number of people (up to two), and a phone number where you can be reached on the day.

During the event, a "Best Presentation Award" will be voted on by visitors. Why not experience the joy of committing yourself to the world of contemporary art through this annual summer art festival?