Comments from the judges on the award:
The exhibition is somewhat silly, with posters of haniwa clay figures and old newspapers reporting on a "soiled" civilization, but there is a grandiose creativity (or delusion?) at work there. A world that could have been, either in the past or the future, is depicted through mass media. If that were all, it would be a common theme, but by looking back on it from a future point of view, it is given a retro representation. It is an astonishing leap of power. (Noguchi Reiichi)

Title of work and artist statement
Doomsday records

"We live our lives being consumed by destruction and birth. We face "change" and ponder what "life" is."

Green Sea (free park28), Green Sea (free park27)
green sea(free park28), green sea(free park27)

"I draw the freedom I think about. Right now I see it in the rice fields that look like a sea of green, the lines of my drawings, and the movements of people."

Ramen (noodle) Addiction
Ramenaholic

"By depicting dependency, I can get a glimpse into the way people live. I can look at life. For me, that act itself is a very positive thing."

Sleeping Garden
Suitei

"I feel a strong affinity with gardens, which create an ideal worldview between private property and the outside world, and I am drawing my own ideal world while investigating the natural view and philosophy of gardens."

Comments from the judges on the award
This was a competition that clearly reflected the trend towards diversification in contemporary art. I was drawn to the impact of Lee Seung-Rui's large-scale work and the delicate minimalist poetry of Yamaguchi Ryotaro. I was also drawn to the work of Okuno Tomoe, who won the Individual Award, for using monochrome photography as a medium, yet using red lighting to create a special sensual atmosphere. (Tatehata Akira)

Title of work and artist statement
We are granules.

"Using the keywords 'deformation of motifs' and 'interpretation,' his creative activities are centered on his interest in the deformity of living creatures' bodies, including his own."

Check out the "Forest for You" building blocks
Wooden Checkered

"It is I who give meaning to things and bind them. I carve them, copy them, and overlay them. Before you know it, they are freed from me and become a forest. A forest for you."

Night of Eden
Night of Eden

"This series of works is a narrative expression of the intense emotions I felt during my two years in the master's program, and is a compilation of my inner world."

Comments from the judges on the award
Contemporary painting is currently in the midst of a torrent of new technology, materials, and sociality. Despite facing difficulties in opening up new possibilities for painting, Takeo Takao boldly takes on the challenge without relying on narrative or quotation. This is something that I highly commend him for. (Shigeo Goto)

Title of work and artist statement
ship
SHIP

"I explore how images function through painting. I aim to create changeable images that emerge from fossils, images that change like dinosaurs."

Comments from the judges on the award
Grand Prix winner Takada Maru's work transforms the words of a diary that was never meant to be shared with anyone into decaying letters, creating a new landscape in a public space. The dynamism of the most personal emotional movements being transformed into lines, shared with others, and generating new meaning vividly conveyed the essence of painting and left a strong impression. (Yabumae Tomoko)

Title of work and artist statement
The words of the prayer remain in the same form today
The Prayers are in Their Usual Form Today

"I draw pictures, show pictures, and look at pictures. Why can humans, why can I, not let go of this desire? I will unravel the impulse back to its origin."

Comments from the judges on the award:
At first glance, Zhao's work, which overlaps God and AI, may seem inappropriate. However, if we consider that both are beings that are the condensation and expression of human desires and hopes, we can say that they share a fundamentally common root. It is an interesting conceptual work in which an existence based on collective memory intersects with personal memories of love. (Kimura Eriko)

Title of work and artist statement
Love, Simulation, Spine, Electronic Dictionary
love, simulation, spine, digital dictionary

"When Zhao dated someone who spoke a different language, he used AI tools to intervene in their interactions and relationships. Based on this short and sad experience of love, Zhao created the image of the God of Love in the modern era."

Roomful of Rules (Through You)
Room full of rules (through you)

"The waves of presence emitted by someone who was once there, but who I cannot meet eye-to-eye with, reach me but pass through my body, making my existence fade away."

≪ ≫

"Rather than drawing a picture from an image in mind, I first drew something with my hand and the image of the picture became what I wanted."

Rephotograph

"When people look at a photograph, I often find that the subject is the subject of the photograph. The 'photograph of ~' is treated as something that cannot be seen. I am interested in the 'photograph of ~' part."

By far
Haymaker

"This is a fantastic drawing. I had fun drawing it."

Detach and Adhere

"At the moment when I pasted a piece of paper, I felt as if a visual unit was being released from my eyes."

Humans are great
Humans are good

"Even if it doesn't have mass or will, when you stick your face in there, it creates a sense of incongruity."

Sky and Light
sora hikari

"I created small, delicate sculptures out of clay, based on the motif of the tiny lights that fill our daily lives. I expressed scenes and landscapes where something sparkles in a quiet place."

Throb
My heartbeat

"Using the local dialect, Mandarin, and traditional Chinese sheets, we expressed the family's thoughts, conflicts, and the true feelings and experiences of those involved in 'LGBTQT+'."

Comments from the judges on the award
Through Li's work, we witness journeys where small, intimate journeys overlap with larger stories. The journey of searching for one's own identity overlaps with a journey of meeting one's mother and grandmother, and with larger encounters with one's home country and the social position and history of women. The paintings, painted with overwhelming artistic skill, are reminiscent of realist and socialist paintings, but one could also say that they deliberately touch upon these while depicting the conflict between small and large stories that exist in the stories of individuals and nations. I am pleased to have come across such a masterpiece after such a long time, and I have high hopes for further development in the future. (Imamura Yusaku)

Title of work and artist statement
"Call me by my name"

"The theme of my paintings is the image of Korean mothers of my mother and grandmother's generation, who lived strong lives while carrying various identities amid the social adversity of the postwar period."

Comments from the judges on the award
Wada Sakura reinterprets paintings as having interchangeable "back" and "front," reversing entrance and exit, and what is mainstream and what is not, creating a chain of images that are open to complex senses that go beyond just "seeing." The "back" and "front" can be substituted with metaphors that go beyond painting, making this a masterpiece that can give rise to a variety of interpretations. (Yabumae Tomoko)

Almost all of Artist experienced student life under the coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps they found the opportunity to reexamine themselves, but it seems that many of them created their works from private, real-life experiences. I look forward to seeing their real-life experiences deepen even further in the future. (Tomio Koyama)

Title of work and artist statement
Cerberus
Cerberus

"The artist reconsiders problems that arise in human communities through the relationship between the work and the viewer, and attempts to negotiate with them through clues placed in the space."