3331 ART FAIR 2020

Japanese contemporary art fair, Arts Chiyoda 3331 Art Fair (3331 Art Fair) was held from March 18 to March 22, 2020. During the exhibition period of Chiyoda 3331 art fair, which opened under the epidemic situation, the visitors' flow was reduced and reservations had to be made prior to entry. Chiyoda 3331 Art Fair is the only one in Japan that focuses only on contemporary art.

At the opening of the exhibition, most of the key figures in the art field of Japan attended. For example, Yoshihisa Kawamura, the Director of Kawamura DIC Memorial Museum of Art, Nakamura Masato, Chairman of 3331 Art Exhibition Committee, Professor of Tokyo University of Art and Masamichi Toyama CEO of Smiles Company, Rie Tamura, Curator of Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Chief curator of Shiseido, Yoshihiko Sano CEO of Yasui construction company, Development Tomoo Sakurauchi, a Director of Sumitomo business company, Yasuki Tamaki, President of Japan agriculture and forestry relaxation business group, Yuki Taiji Producer of room 2021 of Kokkawa Group, Koichi Kaneko director of Art Department of Japan Bridge of Takashima Department Store Group, Kazuya Sugawa Executive member of Yasuda Real Estate, Ishinabe Hiroko Onepiece club, on behalf of etc., during the exhibition period, Yasutaka Hayashi from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in the Japanese Government, Norio Nakamura designer, Masashi Funayama CEO of Funayama Accounting Firm, Yamamoto Kenichi President of the construction company , Takamine Curator of Art Museum Mito, Megumi Hatai Curator of Chiba City Museum, Shibayama Trtsuji President of Ag Auction Company, Tokumitsu Kenji President Tagboat , Syunichi Kazasawa President of Kazasawa and Co.,ltd, Yoshiyuki Oshita Director of National Art Museum, Jyunichi Mori from Universal Music record company, etc..

Art work by Professor of Art University of Tokyo, OJUN

Art work by Professor of Art University of Tokyo, Risaku Suzuki

Art work by Professor of Art University of Tokyo, sputuniko!

In 2020, the participating artists of Chiyoda 3331 Art Expo include Takahiro Iwasaki, the artists also participated in Venice Biennale in 2017, OJUN, Masaru Kobayashi, Suzuki Risaku, and Sputuniko, who are professors of Tokyo University of Art. Etsu Egami, a Japanese artist, who was chosen from the recommendation section by the Curators of CCMA museum in Japan. The recommended section is the feature of the 3331 Art Expo. The recommending committee of the 3331 Expo are all organized by important Japanese Curators, including Megumi Hatai, Chiba City Museum of Art, Yosuke Takahashi Curator of Kanazawa 21st century Art Museum, Takenori Miyamoto Curator of Kadokawa Culture Revitalization Consortium, Natsumi Araki, Curator of Aichi Triennial Exhibition, Satoshi Koganesawa Curator of OTA City Art Museum, Yoshitaro Inami Curator of Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Yuji Otomo Curator of Nakanoshima Art Museum Osaka, Yoshko Nakamura Curator of Aichi prefecture Art Museum, etc. Due to the epidemic situation, the on-site talks were partially cancelled and most of them became live broadcasts.

In the 3331 Art Fair, the collectors award was given by collectors of Japan to the artists that demonstrated deep concern. The art collector's prize was awarded by a jury from important organization of collectors in the Japanese art field, such as Kawamura Yoshihisa who is chairman of Kawamura DIC Group, Masamichi Toyama President of Smiles Co., Ltd.,Tetsuji Shibayama President of AG Auction Company, Kenji Tokumitsu CEO of Tagboat, Masashi Funayama President of Funayama Accounting firm, Kenichi Yamamoto CEO of Construction Company, etc..

Etsu Egami's art work, The temptation of brushing past-11

Etsu Egami's art work, The temptation of brushing past, received the Japanese Collector’s Prize

Art work "The temptation of burning past" by Etsu EGAMI was recommended by Megumi Hataii, Curator of Chiba CIty Museum of Art Museum and received the Japanese collectors’ prize.

Etsu Egami was born in Japan, in 1994. She studied abroad at HfG Karlsruhe (The Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design) in Germany, the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing. Currently, she studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts for a Doctor’s degree. She reconsiders the possibility of communication from her wide experience overseas and studies from various academic fields such as linguistics to sociology, anthropology and philosophy including the origin of languages. In particular, she devotes herself to a reconsideration of society through words. Her “project” gained international acclaim for the site-specific field survey and documentation. Those factors have deepened the theme of “communication” and she has been highly praised internationally.

As the youngest artist, she was shortlisted for a sovereign art foundation as an Asian Art Prize 2019 finalist, also as an outstanding Asian artist, her works were collected by the Moscow Garage Museum of Art. Most recently, solo exhibitions such as “In to the light… Etsu Egami solo show” (Germany), “Dialogue beyond 400 years” (London), “This is not a Mis-hearing game” (Beijing), “Dialogue 4,000 years: Etsu Egami Exhibition” (Chiba City Art and Culture Newcomer Award Winning Project) were held. In addition, her graduation works received a prize and are collected by the Museum of the University.

Yoshihisa Kawamura Director of Kawamura DIC Memorial Museum of Art  and Etsu Egami

Etsu Egami’s sponsor is Megumi Hatai, curator of Chiba City Museum of Art, which is an important contemporary art museum in Japan. In recommending Etsu EGAMI, Hatai said,  “Dauntless yet delicate strokes. Figurative or abstract? Animate or inanimate? Depending on the distance and angle at which this painting is viewed, its appearance, even the impression of the coloring, changes quite significantly.

Egami was born and raised in Chiba. She went on to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing to study oil painting from an East Asian perspective. Motivated by actual experiences of mishearing due to differences in language, she continues to produce works on the theme of cognition through communication. Having portrayed others with a creativity inspired by trivial discords in her everyday life, Egami confronts her own childhood in this work.

There exists a gap we all come up against when confronting someone, be it another person or even ourselves. Egami takes communication as her subject not in an effort to bring one another closer but rather to acknowledge that fundamental distance. Through careful examination of that gap and confirmation of its border, there are also forms that surface of their own accord. Egami’s thinly painted translucent canvases allow us to plunge into the depths of the artist’s never-ending pursuit of communication.”

About the history and transformation of Art 3331

On March 2010, Arts Chiyoda 3331 opened in Akihabara as a new art center. After the renovation of the old middle school, the center is dominated by artists, with private participation and a cross field style. It is the center of Japan, as well as Tokyo, East of Asia and an art space of the 21st century type. Art millennia 3331 is an art center set up in an area where all kinds of people, with local residents at the center, can have daily access to a variety of cultural and artistic activities. There are galleries and offices in the classroom space. In addition, in the community space and coffee shop, you can enjoy your free time such as self-study, reading, meeting, etc. The facilities are connected to the park by a wooden deck. There are many people resting between work and walking. It is a comfortable space.

Arts Chiyoda 3331, located near Akihabara, the center of anime and J-Pop cultural , is a unique  spot where you can feel the diverse culture of Tokyo and enjoy art in a quiet atmosphere.

Text and Image Courtesy of Etsu Egami.