Asian Contemporary Art Fair
The Asian Contemporary Art Fair was a contemporary art fair held annually in New York City. The first fair took place November 8–12, 2007. The second Asian Contemporary Art Fair occurred November 6–10, 2008.
The Asian Contemporary Art Fair (ACAF) was hosted by AsianArtWorks, a Korean company with offices in Beijing, Seoul and New York. The fair's primary sponsor was the Korean engineering company HNC.
== Asian Contemporary Art Fair 2007 ==
ACAF 2007 was the first art fair dedicated to Asian contemporary art to be held in New York City. It included 81 exhibitors from China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States. The fair was held at New York's Pier 92 at 52nd Street and 12th Avenue.
The opening night preview reception was on November 8 with a performance by Korean-born dancer Sin Cha Hong.
As well as the exhibiting galleries, the fair's program included panel discussions, such as Robert Storr in dialogue with Xu Bing, and a special exhibition, “Simulasian: Refiguring ‘Asia’ for the 21st Century,” curated by Eric C. Shiner and Lilly Wei. Performances by artists Frank Fu, Cai Qing, and Qiu Zhijie and the Long March Project were also held throughout the fair's duration.
Participating Galleries 2007:1918 ArtSPACE, Shanghai
2x13 Gallery, New York
798 Avant Gallery, New York
AHL Foundation, New York
Aicon Gallery, New York/Palo Alto/London
Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin/Beijing
Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong
Arario Gallery, Cheonan, Beijing/Seoul/New York
Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi
ATM Gallery, New York
Aura Gallery, Hong Kong/Shanghai
Author Gallery, Shanghai
Base Gallery, Tokyo
Beatrice Chang Contemporary Art, Inc., New York
Cais Gallery, Seoul
Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, New York
ChinaSquare, New York
Chosun Art Gallery, Seoul
Ego Gallery, Jakarta
Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York
Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York
Galerie Bhak, Seoul
Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin
Galerie 89 Eyety Nine, Paris
Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zurich
Galerie Teo, Tokyo
Gallery Artlink, Seoul
Gallery Artside, Beijing/Seoul
Gallery Espace, New Delhi
Gallery Hirota Bijutsu, Tokyo
Gallery Ihn, Seoul
Gallery Kong, Seoul
Gallery Q, Tokyo
Gallery Terra Tokyo, Tokyo
Gallery Touch Art, Paju
Gallery Tsubaki, Tokyo
Gallery Yamaguchi, Tokyo
Gallery Yeh, Seoul
Gana Art Gallery, Seoul
Goedhuis Contemporary, London/Beijing/New York
Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul
Hino Gallery, Tokyo
HNC Culture, Beijing/Seoul
Hosane, Shanghai
Interart Channel, Seoul/New York
Iroom Gallery, Paju
Jean Art Gallery, Seoul
Jeff Cain Collection, Los Angeles
Kimjaesun Gallery, Busan
Kimyoungseob Photo Gallery, Seoul
Krampf Gallery, New York
Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Leehwaik Gallery, Seoul
Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art, New York
Mem, Osaka
Moca China, Hong Kong
Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Nodo Contemporary, Nagoya
Olyvia Oriental, London
One and J. Gallery, Seoul
Parkryusook Gallery, Seoul
Ping's Gallery, Tapei
PYO Gallery, Seoul
Red Gate Gallery, Beijing
Rho Gallery, Seoul
Sanshang Art, Hangzhou
Seomi & Tuus Gallery, Seoul
SHiNE Art Space, Shanghai
Sotheby's, New York
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York/Beverly Hills
Susan Eley Fine Art, New York
Taguchi Fine Art, Ltd., Tokyo
Taipei Cultural Center, New York
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
The Newgate East, Seoul
The Tolman Collection of Tokyo, Tokyo/New York/Shanghai
Today Art Museum, Beijing
Tokyo Gallery + Btap, Tokay/Beijing
Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
Wellside Gallery, Seoul/Shanghai
Zendai MoMA, Shanghai
== Asian Contemporary Art Fair 2008 ==
The second ACAF was held from November 6–10, 2008, at Pier 92. It had 62 exhibitors from Australia, Bangladesh, China, England, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States.
An opening night reception was held on November 6. It included a fashion show by Angel Chang and performance artwork by Yibin Tian.
The fair commissioned two special exhibitions, one from Central Asia and the Middle East, and one from China. “Given Difference,” curated by Charles Merewether, examined art from Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Georgia. “My Bone, Flesh and Skin,” curated by Feng Boyi, brought together the work of five young contemporary Chinese artists who used the body as a subject for exploring contemporary states of existence.
Participating Galleries 2008:2x13 Gallery, Seoul
798 Avant Gallery, New York
A Thousand Plateau Art Space, Chengdu
Aibo Fine Asian Art, Purchase
Art for All Society, Macau
Art Seasons, Beijing
Art Vietnam, Hanoi
Artside, Seoul/Beijing
Base Gallery, Tokyo
Bengal Gallery of Fine Art, Dhaka
CCA Gallery, New York
China Blue, Beijing
China Previews Gallery, New York
Chinese Contemporary, New York/Beijing/London
East Asia Contemporary, Shanghai
Eli Klien Fine Art, New York
Exhibit A, New York
Feizi Gallery, Shanghai
Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York
Galeria Bellarte, Seoul
Galeria Dolores de Sierra, Madrid
Galerie Hussenot, Paris
Galerie Lansar, Switzerland
Gallery 456 – Chinese American Arts Council, New York
Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
Gallery Terra, Tokyo
Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
IFA, Shanghai
InfraRed Art Projects, Hong Kong/Paris
Ippodo Gallery, Tokyo/New York
Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, New York
Jean Art Gallery, Seoul
Johyun Gallery, Seoul/Busan
Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York
Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art, New York
Linda Gallery, Jakarta/Singapore/Beijing/Shanghai
Magee Gallery, Beijing/Madrid
Max Protetch, New York
Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery, Beijing
PYO Gallery, Seoul/Beijing/Los Angeles
Red Gate, Beijing
Redlips Studio Gallery, Sydney
Regis Krampf, New York
Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai
Sheng Ling Gallery, Shanghai
Shiseido HATANAKA, Tokyo
Silverlens Gallery, Manila
Sohn Wook Gallery, Gyeongju
Studio Rouge, Shanghai
Sundaram Tagore, New York
T Space, Beijing
Taipei Cultural Center, New York
THE Gallery, New York
Tibetan Bridge, New York
Today Art Museum, Beijing
Tolman Collection, New York
TS1, Beijing
UCCA, Beijing
Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art, New York
White Box, New York
Xerxes Fine Art, London
Yamashita Gallery, Tokyo
== Attendance and Reception ==
In 2007 approximately 25,000 people attended ACAF. Sales were reported as steady. The fair received mostly positive reviews from a critical standpoint. Ken Johnson wrote of ACAF 2007 in The New York Times, “Fizzy and entertaining on the surface, it has a disquieting underside.”
In 2008, attendance at ACAF was estimated at 30,000 visitors. The effects of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 on the art market dominated the fair's media coverage.
AsianArtWorks moved its main office to Beijing, China in 2009.