The 19th “1_WALL” Graphics Exhibition is part of an open competition for the right to mount a solo show at Guardian Garden. The exhibition will feature works by six finalists after two rounds of judging: the first round focusing on all entrants’ portfolios, and the second round consisting of one-on-one discussions between the graphic designers selected in the initial round and the judges. For this group exhibition, each finalist is allocated one wall on which to show his or her works.
The final round of judging will take place on August 30 (thu), 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, and the judges will then discuss the relative merits of the six contenders’ works and select the Grand Prize winner. The winner’s prize is the privilege of holding a solo show at the gallery one year later, plus 200,000 yen to prepare for the show.
As always, this latest in the series of “1_WALL” Graphics Exhibitions brings together six diverse up-and-coming young designers. Mizuki Ashikawa creates lithographs from images that combine scenery such as buildings and thickets with hand-drawn human figures. Seiji Arimoto prints graphics on T-shirts which he then cuts and sews. Ayane Sasaki uses wool and organdy to make textile-like works in diagrammatic patterns. Tomoaki Tarutani continuously asks “What am I?” and reworks his everyday experiences into painterly works. Tomomi©︎Nishikawa creates graphics from combinations of simple lines and forms. And Asako Fujikura uses 3D computer graphics software to make works that focus on industrial products within our cities.
Mizuki Ashikawa
Born in 1994. Currently studying in the Graduate School of Art and Design at Musashino Art University, majoring in Printmaking.
“A Day Feeling Faint”
As I edit scattered fragments through digital and physical means, sometimes the pasted image transcends reality.
Seiji Arimoto
Born in 1986. Graduated from Kuwasawa Design School. Currently employed at Semitransparent Design.
“T-shirt Shape”
When I cut and sew the graphic printed on a T-shirt and the T-shirt cloth in different ways, the shape of the T-shirt changes.
Ayane Sasaki
Born in 1992. Graduated from Musashino Art University’s College of Art and Design with a concentration in Industrial, Interior and Craft Design.
“Soft Code”
The fuzzy air, ambience and temperature, the slight difference and so on when I remember and imagine.
Tomoaki Tarutani
Born in 1984. Graduated from the Crafts Department of Osaka University of Arts, with a major in Textile/Dyeing.
“‘OK to bloom”
What am I? Me as chaos made from many mes—joining and separating from numerous others, not knowing how to stop. To me, drawing is an adventure in which I transform to something that I’m not!
Tomomi©︎Nishikawa
Born in 1987. Employed at 10inc.
“Delusions of Grandeur.”
I make works shunning what I don’t like: a sense of being fashionable, an air of being high class, looking like a design, the cuteness of the straight path, etc. Looking back at what I’ve actually made, everything was only afterimages lingering in my brain.
Asako Fujikura
Born in 1992. Graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media of Tokyo University of the Arts.
“Bare Mountain Primitive”
I’m making a series of drainage facilities centering on expressways and toilets. I look for the magic linked to primitive feelings in the functions of our modern cities.
Born in 1994. Currently studying in the Graduate School of Art and Design at Musashino Art Universit...
Born in Wakayama, Japan
2012 KUWASAWA DESIGN SCHOOL
2012— Semitransaprent design
Born in 1992. Graduated from Musashino Art University’s College of Art and Design with a concentrati...
Born in 1984. Graduated from the Crafts Department of Osaka University of Arts, with a major in Text...
Tomomi©︎Nishikawa
Graphic designer? Super-illustrator? Surely it would be presumptuous to call myself an “artist.” But lately I’ve been hitting my stride. Nowadays anything goes, right? That’s what Horiemon said. Born in Hachinohe, Aomori (played basketball) → dropout of Japan’s Women’s College of Physical Education (momentarily played lacrosse) → Vantan Design Institute → working at 10inc. since August 2011. I was pretty fond of the Heisei Era.
Asako Fujikura
Born in 1992. Graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media of Tokyo University of the Arts.
Judges (in Japanese syllabary order)
Eriko Kawakami（Art director）
Art director born in Tokyo in 1982. She graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Design, in 2006, and in 2008 she joined Draft Co., Ltd. She went freelance in 2018. Her major work to date includes: “RURU MARY’S” for Mary Chocolate Co.; branding for Marumatsu Tea Co.’s “san grams” tea; graphics for Pocchiri, specialists in coin purses; and the in-house product maker “D-BROS.” She has won a JAGDA Award, Tokyo ADC Award and JAGDA New Designer Award.
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.
Dainippon Type Organization An experimental typography group formed in 1993 by Hidechika – the one with a beard but no surname – and Tetsuya Tsukada – the one with a surname but no beard. For 25 years now, they have been playing with writing systems, probing new concepts through their experiments in disarticulating, combining and reconfiguring the written word.
Jun Tsuzuki（Illustrator）
Illustrator born in Tokyo in 1962. A graduate of Musashino Art University, between the 1980s and into the new millennium he garnered numerous awards in graphics competitions and for his contributions to advertising. In 2010 he mounted the exhibition “New Eidos,” followed in 2013 by “Jun Tsuzuki x Hideki Nakazawa.” In 2015 he held a lecture on “After New Eidos / An Investigation of 1980-2000.” He supervised and contributed to “Nihon Irasutore-shonshi” [A History of Japanese Illustration]. He also supervises and appears on NHK’s “Art 1” program for high school students.jti.ne.jp
Kenjiro Hosaka Kenjiro Hosaka, born in 1976, is curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Among the major exhibitions he has curated are “Francis Bacon” (2013), “The Voice Between: The Art and Poetry of Yoshimasu Gozo” (2016), and “The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945” (2017). He regularly contributes to several magazines, and he has penned essays for the JAGDA Yearbook (2014) and gggBooks 95 (Kazunari Hattori). Photo by Keizo Kioku.
Organizer: Guardian Garden
