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1_WALL

17th “1_WALL” Photography

Today, modes of artistic expression are becoming increasingly diversified, and together with artists who wholeheartedly seek to express themselves in new ways, Guardian Garden aspires to be a venue for considering new expressive modes. This aspiration derives from our hope that artists will overcome any hurdles in their way by offering them a gallery wall where they can express themselves freely, through their works.

Judging Results

Final Round of Judging

Grand Prize

"Scenes"
Yu Kawasaki
Born in 1985 / Completed a Master’s Degree in American Literature in the Graduate School of Language and Society at Hitotsubashi University.
I feel a close affinity with the tragicomical chaos and tranquility that can be glimpsed in everyday life, completely unrelated to how people think after a celebration or a tragedy.

Final Round of Judging

The third and final round of judging is conducted open to public viewing. The six finalists give presentations of their works on display and their plans for their solo exhibition if they win the Grand Prize. The judges discuss the merits of each finalist’s portfolio, works shown, and presentation, and together decide the winner of the Grand Prize.

“1_WALL” ExhibitionTue. October 31, 2017 - Fri. November 24, 2017

A group exhibition is held spotlighting the six finalists to emerge from the second round of judging. Each finalist is allocated a gallery wall (approx. 3.85m wide and 2.5m high) to display their works. Besides the works themselves, the judges also take into consideration how the finalists use their overall display space and how they show their works.

Success in the Second Round of Judging

Finalists

  • "Father’s Constellations"

    Manami Uetake

    Born in 1988

    Currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Oil Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts.

  • "Scenes"

    Yu Kawasaki

    Born in 1985

    Completed a Master’s Degree in American Literature in the Graduate School of Language and Society at Hitotsubashi University.

  • "What Happened During Pregnancy"

    Satoshi Terada

    Born in 1982

    Graduated from Tokyo Zokei University with a major in Photography.

  • "Black Water"

    Den Gai

    Born in 1984

    Graduated from Nippon Photography Institute.

  • "Nobody Knows"

    Mio Fukuda

    Born in 1995

    Currently studying Science of Design at Musashino Art University.

  • "Untitled"

    Machiko Fujimoto

    Born in 1983

Judges’ Encouragement Prizes

  • "Lingering Scent of Him"

    Aska Ota

    Selected by Kotaro Iizawa

  • "The time it falls and piles up"

    Canaco Ishii

    Selected by Risaku Suzuki

  • "sad tropics"

    Erisa Satoh

    Selected by Arata Dodo

  • "ADACHI"

    Daniel Alvarez

    Selected by Kimi Himeno

  • "Nighttime Maze"

    Miyuki Iwasaki

    Selected by Rei Masuda

Second Round of JudgingThu. July 27, 2017

A portfolio review is held one-on-one between each entrant and a judge. Here, the entrants are given the opportunity to directly explain the motives behind their works or their production process. After all portfolio reviews are completed, the judges assemble to discuss their assessments and select the six finalists.

Success in First Round of Judging

Entrants Who Successfully Passed the First Round of Judging

  • Daniel Alvarez
  • Takeshi Ikemura
  • Canaco Ishii
  • Miyuki Iwasaki
  • Manami Uetake
  • Ko Ushio
  • H/N
  • Yusuke Endo
  • Asuka Ota
  • Maki Ogawa
  • Kazunari Okimura
  • Yasufumi Oyama
  • Kota Kato
  • Yu Kawasaki
  • Yuki Kitano
  • Kim Hyun Seok
  • Lisa Kuno
  • Erisa Satoh
  • Kei Shimazu
  • Atsuko Suzuki
  • Kai Tamaki
  • Satoshi Tearada
  • Den Gai
  • Fuka Torii
  • Mio Fukuda
  • Machiko Fujimoto
  • Katsumi Makabe
  • Yasuhiro Mitsuhashi
  • Maiko Miyamoto
  • Yuki Moriya

Portfolio JudgingFri. July 14, 2017 - Wed. July 26, 2017

Judging is performed based on entrants’ work files and data. The judges, all prominent in their respective fields – design, illustration, photography, etc. – plus members of the secretariat, render their judgments from various perspectives. Thirty entrants are selected to continue on to the second round of judging.

Grand Prize Award Privileges

Solo Exhibition at Guardian Garden

100,000 JPY to prepare for the solo exhibition

Scheduled to take place in May-June,2018

The Grand Prize winner receives the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at Guardian Garden roughly one year after the “1_WALL” Exhibition. The gallery is provided free of charge, and the winner is presented 200,000 JPY to prepare for the show. Publicity assistance, including support in preparing a show leaflet, is also provided.

THE SECOND STAGE at GG

This series of exhibitions features former participants in “1_WALL” competitions who passed the first round of judging. All entrants meeting those qualifications are eligible. To date, exhibitions have focused attention on up-and-coming art directors, graphic designers, illustrators and photographers.

ARTIST Page

Finalists in “1_WALL” competitions (entrants who have passed the first and second rounds of judging) can have their name registered on the ARTIST page accessible on the Guardian Garden website.

Judges

  • Kotaro Iizawa

    (Photography Critic)

    Born in Miyagi Prefecture in 1954. In 1984 he completed a PhD in Art at the University of Tsukuba. From 1990 to 1994 he served as editor-in-chief of the quarterly photography magazine “Deja-vu.” His recent publications include “Photobooks make the history!” (CMS) and “Archive of Contemporary Japanese Photography 2011-2013” (Seikyusha).

  • Risaku Suzuki

    (Photographer)

    Born in Shingu, Wakayama, in 1963. In 2000 he received the 25th Kimura Ihei Award in Photography for “PILES OF TIME.” His recent publications include “Water Mirror” (Case Publishing / Fine-Art Photography Association), “SAKURA” (edition nord), “Étude” (SUPER LABO), “Between the Sea and the Mountain – Kumano ” (amanasalto), “Ishiki no nagare” [Stream of Consciousness] (edition nord) and “Atelier of Cézanne” (Nazraeli Press).

  • Arata Dodo

    (Photographer)

    Born in Osaka in 1974, raised in Nara. In 1995 he won the “Konica Introducing New Generation Photographers” Grand Prix. In 1999 he published the photo book “Ways of Shanghai 1994-1999” (Mole Press). In 2000 he received the Photographic Society of Japan’s Newcomer’s Award; in 2004, the New York ADC Jury’s Special Award; and in 2009, the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association Outstanding Advertising Award. In 2012 he published the photo book “TAIGAN” (AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc.) and received the 38th Kimura Ihei Award.

  • Kimi Himeno

    (Principal and director of AKAAKA Art Publishing)

    Established AKAAKA Art Publishing in 2006. To date the company has published more than 200 books, mainly photo books and art books. Publications include many recipients of the Kimura Ihei Award: Lieko Shiga (“CANARY” 2007); Atsushi Okada (“I am” 2007); Masashi Asada (“Asadake” 2008); Cozue Takagi (“MID” 2009; “GROUND” 2009); Arata Dodo (“Taigan” 2012); Ryuichi Ishikawa (“A Grand Polyphony” 2014; “okinawan portraits 2010-2012” 2014); and Aya Fujioka (“Here Goes River” 2017). Since 2018 she is also a professor at Osaka University of Arts.

  • Rei Masuda

    (Chief curator at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)

    Born in Kobe in 1968. Completed the graduate course in Area Studies at the University of Tsukuba. Since 1992 he has worked at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT). Among exhibitions he has curated in recent years are: “Josef Koudelka Retrospective” (2013), “Narahara Ikko: Domains” (2014), and “Thomas Ruff” (2016).