This will be a group exhibition of works by the six finalists who successfully passed the first and second screening processes in the competition to win the 1st BUG Art Award. A final round of judging, open to public viewing, will be held on February 6 (Tue) to select the Grand Prize winner. The Grand Prize winner will receive the right to hold a solo exhibition at BUG within one year’s time, up to 3 million yen to cover preparation expenses, and an artist fee.

Six entrants were selected as competition finalists. Mayuko Inui will be exhibiting two video presentations: one featuring her performance based on “The Song of Kuzunoha,” a legend passed down in the city of Izumi in Osaka Prefecture; the other incorporating an interview with a friend who identifies as nonbinary. Yuriko Iyanaga will show a video of works she originally drew as a child using software, subsequently transformed using contemporary technology, as well as an installation created from everyday items, cloth, packaging materials, etc. Takumaru Kondo will display paintings based on imaginary spaces created using 3D computer graphics, employing drawings of images inspired by his research at botanical gardens and parks. Yuri Miauchi, in a work configured largely from gauze-covered spaces and a robot arm, poses the question of how, through that mechanical body, the sensation of human skin is conveyed. Hikari Mukai will exhibit 3D works, drawings and videos inspired by discoveries in everyday life, fabricated from sand, straw, linen, bronze, etc. Kohei Yamada will offer oil paintings addressing issues of light vs. shadow, color, form, lines, and man vs. nature, based on his perception that something is out of place in works of landscapes – mountains, seas, etc. – as objects of the natural world.

The BUG Art Award is an award program operated by Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. targeted at artists who have been active in their field less than 10 years. The Company supports the growth of such young artists by providing feedback from the judging panel, holding consultation sessions to discuss how to exhibit or prepare their display areas, etc. Our aim is to support and encourage the creation of new forms of artistic expression and to help young artists build up their career.

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