The 6th “1_WALL” Graphics Exhibition is part of an open competition for the right to mount a solo show at Guardian Garden. The exhibition features works by the six finalists after two rounds of judging: the first round focused on all entrants’ portfolios, and the second round evaluated the portfolio presentations of the graphic designers selected in the initial round. Each finalist is allocated one wall on which to show his or her works. The final round of judging will take place on March 9 (Fri)*, i.e. while the exhibition is in progress. During this round, which is open to the public, the six finalists will each give a presentation of his or her works, based on which the judges will select the Grand Prix winner. The winner’s prize is the privilege of mounting a solo show at the gallery one year later plus the right to prepare an exhibition pamphlet.
The “1_WALL” series are open competitions in which, through three rounds of judging, the entrants are evaluated for their creative talent and potential. The competition gives all entrants an opportunity to test the limits of their expressive capabilities.
The sixth exhibition in the series has brought together works inspired by events and people in the designer’s everyday life: works employing photographs and drawings to record daily changes in the artist’s home vegetable garden; works attempting to express the air of malaise after the 2011 earthquake disaster through depictions of people who don’t exist in the real world; works depicting thin, elongated people using ink and screentone; experimental works seeking to record time spent with friends by drawing directly on the person’s skin; etc.
We eagerly invite you to join us to find out who will grab this year’s Grand Prix – a budding young artist expected to garner much attention in tomorrow’s graphic design realm.
The 6 Finalists
*At the open round of final judging on March 9, Go Tanaka was selected as the Grand Prix winner.
Satoe Akimoto
Born in 1988.
“farm plots”
Steadily… Continuing steadily.
Fervently and wholeheartedly.
Even I seem to be gradually cultivated by it.
1cyome
Born in 1977.MA in Oil Painting Course, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts &Music.
“defender of justice”
Ultra Q remains lodged in my memories as a youngster. After the earthquake, existing predictions of the future fell apart, and the reality in front of us transformed into something absurd and difficult to understand. I exist in that dark, stagnant visual world.
Maki Ohkojima
Born in 1987. Graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design’s Graduate School of Art and Design with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts.
“deep river flowing at one’s feet”
I try to examine things from numerous angles. I want to approach things in a way to allow for flexibility and diversity in people’s views, and leave room for spaces in the mind.
Arisa Odawara
Born in 1979.
“my diary”
Fragments of behavior, glimpses of landscapes, fantasies of where things came from. For the last four years, I have written down the physical sensations and happenings of my mind into a diary.
＊Grand Prize Winner＊
Go Tanaka
Born in 1983.
“stand alone complex”
What will happen to these people from now on, I don’t know. That’s what’s exciting. It would make me happy if everyone shares in that excitement.
Pinpin Co
Born in 1983. Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts’ Graduate School of Fine Arts with a Masters Degree in Architecture.
“REPLAY”
Rather than drawing pictures, I am leaving records.
Rather than what is being depicted, it is about the purpose of depicting.
It spreads out uninterrupted like a map,
little by little by little,
connecting.
1977 Born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan
2002 BA in Oil Painting Course, Tokyo National University of Fi...
Maki Ohkojima
Born in Higashikurume City 1987. Graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design’s Graduate School of Art and Design with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts.
Born in Tokyo in 1979
Awards
2012 Selected as a finalist, the 6th Graphic “1_WALL” exhibition
2010 S...
Pinpin Co
Born in 1983. Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts’ Graduate School of Fine Arts with a Masters Degree in Architecture.
Judges (in Japanese syllabary order)
Ichio Otsuka（Illustrator, Art director）
Illustrator and art director born in Niigata Prefecture in 1968. In addition to numerous illustrations created for books, advertising and music-related works, he is art director of “Miitsuketa!,” an educational TV program on NHK. He has published a collection of his works: illustration book, ICHIO Otsuka’s MAGIC! With film director Hirokazu Koreeda he has co-authored the picture book Kuna.
Atsuki Kikuchi（Graphic designer）
Born in Tokyo in 1974. He attended Musashino Art University, majoring in Sculpture. In 2000 he established Bluemark, and then in 2011 he founded his own design studio. His work areas include brand planning, logo design, signage planning, editorial design, etc., with a strong focus on art, fashion and architecture. He is also the principal of Book Peak, planners and publishers of art books.
Kenjiro-Sano（Art director）
Art director born in 1972. President of MR_DESIGN Inc. His major work includes Toyota ReBORN, Suntory BOSS, LISMO!, Nyanmage, S.T. Corporation’s Air Counter, T Boo! S for TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), Mizkan’s Toromame, etc. Nico products and the “Earth Garbage Bag” of his design are sold at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), Collette in Paris, London’s Design Museum and la Rinascente in Milan. www.mr-design.jp
Kaoru Takai（Art director）
Graduated from Tama Art University. After initially working in Suntory’s advertising division, in 2002 she joined SUN-AD Co., Ltd. While working primarily as an advertising art director, she also designs packaging, CD covers and commercial products. Her major clients include Suntory, Haat (ISSEY MIYAKE INC.) and CLASSICS the Small Luxury. Awards Takai has received to date include the Tokyo ADC Award and JAGDA New Designer Award.
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.
Organizer: Guardian Garden
