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1_WALL

23rd “1_WALL” Graphics

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

"You are my escape."
Hirate
Born in 1997 /
I want to meet you, to talk to you. No matter who you are or what form you take, you have a body, as do I. If we talked about that, I thought maybe we could chat with the same ease as just saying hi to each other.

Final Round of JudgingThu. April 22, 2021

The third and final round of judging is conducted open to public viewing. The five 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. April 06, 2021 - Sat. May 15, 2021

A group exhibition is held spotlighting the five 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

  • "Neo Ceramics"

    Shoko Ishikawa

    Born in 1995

    Graduated from Tama Art University with a concentration in Textile Design.

  • "Planet Nanakusa"

    Seri

    Born in 1996

    Currently studying Design in the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts.

  • "You are my escape."

    Hirate

    Born in 1997

  • "C"

    Yuka Hotta

    Born in 1999

    Currently studying Oil Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts.

  • "LIFE, SAVE, AH~"

    Eri Yagi

    Born in 1994

    Currently studying at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School, majoring in Oil Painting Technique and Material.

Judges’ Encouragement Prizes

  • "plants"

    hyanahyu

    Selected by Yuri Uenishi

  • "Four Gods of Macho"

    matsunami gorilla of gorilla

    Selected by Ryoji Tanaka

  • "Thought Island Tour"

    Sonoko Sakurai

    Selected by Kuniko Nagasaki

  • "One Trip"

    Yue Ming

    Selected by Kazunari Hattori

  • "Destinations"

    Segawa Kira

    Selected by Kiyonori Muroga

Second Round of JudgingFri. January 29, 2021

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 five finalists.

Success in First Round of Judging

Entrants Who Successfully Passed the First Round of Judging

  • Shoko Ishikawa
  • Kazuyuki Ishida
  • Kouichi Ohno
  • Yue Ming
  • Sakura Kise
  • Yuuka Kubo
  • Sonoko Sakurai
  • Kira Segawa
  • Seri
  • noisy_eye
  • Ryota Hanawa
  • Haburi
  • Moto Hidaka
  • hyanahyu
  • Hirate
  • Mishiho Fukuhama
  • Yuka Hotta
  • matsunami gorilla of gorilla
  • Eri Yagi
  • LU YUWEN

Portfolio JudgingMon. December 07, 2020 - Thu. January 28, 2021

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. Twenty entrants are selected to continue on to the second round of judging. Comments by the judges are subsequently sent to all entrants. (In the event of numerous entrants, comment recipients will be decided by the members of the secretariat.)

Grand Prize Award Privileges

21gra_prize

Solo Exhibition at Guardian Garden

300,000 JPY to prepare for the solo exhibition

Scheduled to take place in January-Februar,2021

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 300,000 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

  • Yuri Uenishi

    (Art Director/Graphic designer)

    Art director and graphic designer Yuri Uenishi was born in Tokyo in 1987. In 2010, on graduating from Tama Art University with a concentration in Graphic Design, she joined Dentsu. Independence in 2021. Her works to date include the “World Table Tennis Championships 2015” poster (TV Tokyo) and Laforet Grand Bazar 2019 summer. Her hobbies are travel and mountain climbing in winter. She has visited 42 countries so far.

  • Ryoji Tanaka

    (Web Designer)

    Web designer Ryoji Tanaka was born in Mie Prefecture in 1975. He founded Semitransparent Design in 2003. His major activities include planning of the exhibitions “tFont/fTime” at YCAM and “Illuminating Graphics 1 and 2” at Creation Gallery G8, as well as holding Semitransparent Design’s “Boring/Bored” exhibition at ggg.

  • Kuniko Nagasaki

    (Illustrator)

    Illustrator born in Tokyo in 1970. After graduating from Tama Art University, where she majored in Textile Design, she became active in diverse areas including: as an illustrator, providing cover art and illustrations for books; writing essays relating to the cinema; and creating manga. She also serves as Associate Professor in the Visual Design program of Joshibi University of Art and Design.

  • Kazunari Hattori

    (Graphic designer)

    Graphic designer Kazunari Hattori was born in Tokyo in 1964. After graduating from the Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he initially worked for Light Publicity before going freelance. His major works include art direction of the magazines “Ryuko Tsushin,” “here and there” and “Mayonaka”; and, for Hermès Japon, art direction of “Hermès Bespoke Objects” and “L’atelier petit h.” He also performed VI planning for the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art.

  • Kiyonori Muroga

    (Editor)

    Kiyonori Muroga was born in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, in 1975. Since 1999 he has performed editorial work mainly in planning related to graphic design, typography and visual culture. He also is engaged, internationally, in critique, lecturing and exhibition planning concerning those genres. Mr. Muroga formerly served as editor-in-chief of “IDEA” magazine. In recent years, he has been in charge of books such as The Next Form of Lettering Designs in Japan and Noritake’s WORKS. He is editor-in-chief of JAGDA’s “The Graphic Design Review” website.