Contest for a New Era of Artists | EVENT

With the opening of the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum on April 6 and other relevant events, Marunouchi basks in the limelight as a premier art district. In addition to the Bridgestone Museum of Art, the Idemitsu Museum of Arts and the Mitsui Memorial Museum that currently exist in Marunouchi, a wonderful art event is now underway that you shouldn’t miss—Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2010. Held in the Gyoko-dori Underground Gallery situated in the public area adjacent to the Marunouchi Building and Shin-Marunouchi Building, the display of numerous artistic creations from promising, young artists lining the corridors is without a doubt the highlight of this annual exhibition.

Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi (hereon referred to as A.A.T.M) is a public award exhibition of contemporary art, created with the aim of finding and fostering gifted, young artists. Works carefully chosen from graduation exhibitions of Japan’s various art universities are displayed in the public space of Gyoko-dori Underground Gallery and awards are decided by an open judging system. Because spectators are freely allowed to view the normally off-limit judging process, the open judging system has become a huge hit, with crowds of viewers packing in to watch the judges in action. The “open” nature of the exhibition is precisely why it has been called a public award exhibition.
This year marks the fourth year of the exhibition with the 45 chosen works currently on display (until May 30) at Gyoko-dori Underground Gallery. On April 29, with world-recognized artist Kohei Nawa on hand to serve as a guest judge, the open judging was held and each award carefully decided.
(Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2010 website: http://www.artawardtokyo.jp/)

The 2010 Grand Prize

Shunsuke Matsushima
<Institute of Advanced Media Art and Sciences>

VOICE-PORTRAIT—self introduction—

2010 Runner-up Prize

Yasutake Iwana
<Seian University of Art and Design>

Left: Mitsu no ki (A tree with sap), Right: Soshite, mata umareru (And, we will reborn)

2010 shu uemura Prize

Jiro Konami
<Tokyo Polytechnic University>

anomaly and normal: Hensoku to futsu

Since the exhibition’s start in 2007, the number of artists with works featured in the previous three A.A.T.M. events has climbed to 143. These artists are now involved in a wide-variety of activities, gaining recognition in individual shows, group exhibitions and art fairs both inside Japan and overseas. This is proof that A.A.T.M. has steadily gained ground as a gateway to success for aspiring young artists.
Last year’s Grand Prize winner wah (an ensemble of artists led by Kenji Minamikawa and Hirofumi Masui) participated in the Earth Arts Festival 2009 Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale, and Runner-up Prize winner Aya Ito was recommended for display at the 2010 VOCA Exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum. Also, shu uemura Prize winner Risa Kono’s new work will be used in the package design for a shu uemura limited edition product that will be sold on a limited basis in seventeen countries, including Japan in autumn this year. All three winners have provided comments on their current thoughts and activities, as well as messages for young artists who intend to follow in their footsteps.

wah document

“We received a lot of tough questions from the judges at A.A.T.M., some inquiring about our work’s artistry and others about its relationship or greater significance to society as a whole. Since that time, we have remained active, striving to become more acutely aware of how and to whom we want to show our work and the ways in which we express meaning through our work. Currently, we are setting up a wah office in Kitamoto, Saitama prefecture, to be our base of operations, and developing art projects for the local residents (website: http://kitamoto- arts.blogspot.com/). “At the A.A.T.M exhibition, we want to see works of art that somehow stand out from the rest, rather than pieces simply high in quality. Our advice: put passion into the creation of your works.”

“We received a lot of tough questions from the judges at A.A.T.M., some inquiring about our work’s artistry and others about its relationship or greater significance to society as a whole. Since that time, we have remained active, striving to become more acutely aware of how and to whom we want to show our work and the ways in which we express meaning through our work. Currently, we are setting up a wah office in Kitamoto, Saitama prefecture, to be our base of operations, and developing art projects for the local residents (website: http://kitamoto-
arts.blogspot.com/).
“At the A.A.T.M exhibition, we want to see works of art that somehow stand out from the rest, rather than pieces simply high in quality. Our advice: put passion into the creation of your works.”

wah document / Sekitei ni suru (Making a rock garden)

Aya Ito

Photo：Chinatsu Takemura	“A.A.T.M.’s environment, where the general public can view my art along with art professionals, proved an invaluable experience for me. Feeling the excitement from connecting with the other participants and the honor of receiving an award for my work greatly inspired me, jump-starting my desire to create even more! My art is currently on display in the RESONANCE exhibition at Suntory Museum, and, in June, my work will be on display at TKG Editions Kyoto. “To future participants: A.A.T.M. is a great opportunity to make an appeal for your work to many different elements of society, so be proactive and have a good time.”

Photo：Chinatsu Takemura

“A.A.T.M.’s environment, where the general public can view my art along with art professionals, proved an invaluable experience for me. Feeling the excitement from connecting with the other participants and the honor of receiving an award for my work greatly inspired me, jump-starting my desire to create even more! My art is currently on display in the RESONANCE exhibition at Suntory Museum, and, in June, my work will be on display at TKG Editions Kyoto.
“To future participants: A.A.T.M. is a great opportunity to make an appeal for your work to many different elements of society, so be proactive and have a good time.”

Above left: Wabisabi towa…(What is wabisabi?),
center left: Futatsu no ketsu no ana (Two anuses),
bottom left: Taikutsu no hate (Edge of boredom),
center: Asa no goji (5 in the morning), above right: Keshiki (Scenery),
center right: Pink no hito (Pink person), bottom right: HM! Ver.3, 2009

Risa Kono

“My connection with the others who were able to participate in A.A.T.M. proved a valuable outlet for me, and lately I have been constantly busy. In late July, I will be displaying works at Bambinart Gallery in 3331 Arts Chiyoda, and after receiving the shu uemara Prize, I was given the opportunity to design products for the shu uemura brand. “To this year’s participating artists: I am sure completing your education and creating a graduation piece was hard work, so I hope you’ll find the exhibition at A.A.T.M. to be a deeply satisfying experience!”

“My connection with the others who were able to participate in A.A.T.M. proved a valuable outlet for me, and lately I have been constantly busy. In late July, I will be displaying works at Bambinart Gallery in 3331 Arts Chiyoda, and after receiving the shu uemara Prize, I was given the opportunity to design products for the shu uemura brand.
“To this year’s participating artists: I am sure completing your education and creating a graduation piece was hard work, so I hope you’ll find the exhibition at A.A.T.M. to be a deeply satisfying experience!”