August 1–September 22, 2020
Arts Initiative Tokyo [AIT], B-403 Twin Building Daikanyama
30-8 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo 150-0033
Japan
pr-naa@a-i-t.net
At a virtual award ceremony on August 26, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Yokohama, Japan) announced Ishu Han as winner of the Nissan Art Award 2020 Grand Prix, selected from the five finalists by an international jury of leading art world figures through an online judging process.
Ishu Han’s where are you now succinctly yet vividly visualizes the feelings of confusion and solitude rampant in our society at present, transforming a personal experience into a universal and poetic statement. Han’s work was highly praised for the way in which it interweaves a rich sensibility into an incredibly minimal form of expression, and inspires the viewer to reflect deeply and widely on problems.
Looking back on the selection, Lawrence Rinder, one of the members of the Nissan Art Award 2020 International Jury, said: “While not being able to see the work in person was certainly detrimental, I feel that we did as well as possible under the circumstances. It was important to move ahead with this award despite the difficulties. Regardless of COVID, art will continue to be made and we must continue to affirm its importance through awards such as this one.”
Han will receive prize money equivalent to 5 million yen (comprising the 1 million yen awarded to each finalist, an additional 2 million yen for the Grand Prix award, and the opportunity to participate in an overseas residency worth 2 million yen) as well as the Nissan Art Award 2020 trophy. The organizers are closely monitoring the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic and, in consultation with Han, hope to realize the best way to promote his activities overseas given the present circumstances.
Based on the Nissan’s corporate vision of enriching people’s lives, the Nissan Art Award was established in 2013 with the aim of contributing to the future development of Japanese culture. The award selects talented Japanese artists* from a global perspective and aspires to raise their presence in the international art scene. The finalists from the previous three editions have gone on since to achieve success at major art festivals, international exhibitions, and fairs around the world, and attract attention from leading art media.
The Nissan Art Award 2020 Finalists Exhibition opened on August 1, and will run until September 22. The exhibition features new work by the five award finalists, chosen by the jury in May 2019 in Venice, Italy.
A press release including a comment by Grand Prix winner Ishu Han and a statement by the international jury will be published on the Nissan’s Global Newsroom at 2pm JST on August 27.
Nissan Art Award 2020 Finalists
Grand Prix Winner: Ishu Han
Sachiko Kazama, Soichiro Mihara, Nobuko Tsuchiya, Ei Wada
View the exhibition online here.
Nissan Art Award 2020 International Jury
Fumio Nanjo (chair): Senior Advisor, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
Jean de Loisy: Director, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Paris, France)
Suhanya Raffel: Museum Director, M+ (Hong Kong)
Ute Meta Bauer: Founding Director, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore /
Professor, Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media (Singapore)
Lawrence Rinder: Former Director and Chief Curator, Berkeley Museum and Pacific Film Archive (California, USA)
Nissan Art Award history
Since its inception in 2013, the Nissan Art Award has been awarded to 4 emerging contemporary artists: Aiko Miyanaga (2013), Yuko Mohri (2015), Hikaru Fujii (2017), and Ishu Han (2020).
Previous finalists include Noriko Ambe, Meiro Koizumi, Hiroyuki Masuyama, Tatzu Nishi, Taro Shinoda, Hiraku Suzuki, and Eiji Watanabe in 2013; Sayaka Akiyama, Tsuyoshi Hisakado, Takashi Ishida, Takahiro Iwasaki, Futoshi Miyagi, and Tomoko Yoneda in 2015; Motoyuki Daifu, Ryuichi Ishikawa, Yuichiro Tamura, and Nami Yokoyama in 2017.
