Asian Art Award 2018
The “Asian Art Award 2018” is a program organized by the Art Tokyo Association and aimed at nurturing artists on an international level. This 2018 edition marks its second time.
The exhibition of the four finalists, held at “TERRADA ART COMPLEX” on Tennozu Isle, took place during a period overlapping with Art Fair Tokyo 2018, and I paid it a visit myself.
Motohiro Tomii
The artist who built an installation by reconstructing plastic shopping bags and shoppers was Motohiro Tomii. His was the simplest, and it was over in the blink of an eye.
Masahiro Wada
Masahiro Wada’s “Black Corridor, or Two Men and 21 Flannel Shirts” was quite intriguing to view.
You wind your way around a black corridor built of plywood, turning several corners, until you arrive at a mini-theater set with two benches.
The “unidentifiable energy waves” emitted from the running footage would not let the viewer go, and I found myself glued to the screen, large for such a space.
I’m not sure whether to call this art, but the footage had a distinctive flavor that I enjoyed.
Special Prize: AKI INOMATA
AKI INOMATA (Aki Inomata)’s work “Why Not Hand Over a ‘Shelter’ to Hermit Crabs?” possessed a beauty that photographs cannot fully convey.
Just as the artist intended, the hermit crabs that had been handed transparent shelters had settled neatly into them, and I was struck by what a truly beautiful sight it was.
While I was viewing, a woman beside me offered commentary on the work. To my surprise, it was the artist herself! She was cheerful, refined, and beautiful, and her explanations, too, were gentle and thorough.
The 100x cross-section of the clam shell rendered, in an easy-to-grasp image, the stress endured around the time of the March 11 earthquake and during construction work, clearly illustrating the relationship between living creatures and nature.
The footage of an octopus entering an ammonite, too, is wonderfully mysterious.
AKI INOMATA
Born in Tokyo in 1983, based in Tokyo. Completed her master’s degree in Intermedia Art at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008. She creates her works through collaboration with living creatures. Her principal works include “Why Not Hand Over a ‘Shelter’ to Hermit Crabs?”, in which she makes hermit-crab shells shaped like cities and has the crabs actually move house, and “I Wear the Dog’s Hair, and the Dog Wears My Hair”, in which she makes capes from her pet dog’s fur and her own hair for the two to wear. Her recent exhibitions include “Coming of Age” (Sector 2337, Chicago, 2017), “KENPOKU ART 2016” (2016), and “ECO EXPANDED CITY” (WRO Art Center, Wrocław, Poland, 2016). In 2017 she stayed in New York at the invitation of the ACC.
Grand Prize: Takehito Koganezawa
The Grand Prize went to a work by Takehito Koganezawa.
Image and space crossed over, and the way time was expressed was interesting too, but as I didn’t have much time, I left the venue with an insufficient understanding.
Personally I don’t care for works that place a burden on the viewer—that force time upon you and put your right brain to the test—so my impression was that this was a work slightly outside my taste. I also caught a faint whiff of the academic. I left the venue wishing I could hear the artist’s own commentary.
The Grand Prize winner is awarded prize money of one million yen, and the work will be exhibited in Shanghai in November before being shown again at Art Fair Tokyo in March 2019.
Note that the judging was closed to the public, and the reasons behind the award have not been disclosed.
Takehito Koganezawa
Born in Tokyo in 1974, based in Hiroshima Prefecture. After graduating from the Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Musashino Art University, he moved to Berlin in 1999, spent 18 years there, and returned to Japan in 2017. Starting from an interest in time, he has approached a broad range of subjects—from the uses of everyday objects to shamanism—all under a fascination with the “transformation of consciousness.” He has expanded his media of production across video, drawing, performance, three-dimensional works, and installation. He has taken part in numerous large-scale international exhibitions, including “Manifesta 4” (Frankfurt, Germany, 2002) and “Aichi Triennale 2010” (2010). His major solo exhibitions include KOGANEZAWA (Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, 2009), Luftlinien (Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, 2012), and The Whereabouts of Smoke (Spiral, 2016).
I hope the four finalists will spread their wings not only across Asia but around the world.
Overview
Name: Asian Art Award 2018 supported by Warehouse TERRADA
Organizer: Art Tokyo Association
Special sponsor: Warehouse TERRADA
Sponsors: TERRADA ART ASSIST Co., Ltd.
eplus Inc.
In cooperation with: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Prizes
Grand Prize: 1,000,000 yen in prize money
Additional prize: Exhibition of the winning work in Shanghai and provision of a work-production space [6 months–1 year]※
Special Prize: Provision of a work-production space [6 months–1 year]※
※TAC ART STUDIO （TERRADA ART COMPLEX 2F）
Exhibition tour
Finalists’ exhibition: March 2018, TERRADA ART COMPLEX 4F (Tokyo)
Grand Prize–winning work: November 2018, Shanghai
Grand Prize–winning work: March 2019, Art Fair Tokyo 2019 (Tokyo)
Exhibition
Name: Asian Art Award 2018 supported by Warehouse TERRADA – Finalists’ Exhibition
Overview
Dates: Saturday, March 3, 2018 – Sunday, March 18, 2018
Monday–Friday 13:00–19:00
Saturday & Sunday 12:00–20:00
Open every day during the exhibition
On Wednesday, March 7, the general public cannot enter due to the judging session being held. We appreciate your understanding in advance.
Venue: TERRADA ART COMPLEX 4F
1-33-10 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Admission free
Judges (honorifics omitted)
Yuji Akimoto, Director and Professor, The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts / Specially Appointed Director, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Yuko Hasegawa, Counselor, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo / Professor, Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
Joyce Toh, Co-head of the Curatorial Team, Singapore Art Museum
You Yang, Deputy Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
Bao Yifeng, Co-founder, ART021
Yoko Hayashi, Senior Specialist for Arts and Culture, Agency for Cultural Affairs
Special judge (honorifics omitted)
Kengo Kuma, Architect / Professor, The University of Tokyo
Finalist selection committee (honorifics omitted)
Keisuke Ozawa, Director of this Award / Representative, arttra / Independent Curator
Kodama Kanazawa, Independent Curator / Head of Curatorial Affairs, Towada Art Center
Katsura Kunieda, Curator, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art
Hiroyuki Hattori, Independent Curator
Junya Yamamine, Curator, Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito
