HERALBONY Art Prize 2024 exhibition
Christian Berst, member of the jury for the first edition of the HERALBONY international art brut prize, travelled to Tokyo to take part in the prize-giving ceremony on August 8.
The works of the 12 prizewinners and 58 finalists are on public display until September 22 at the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation gallery in Tokyo.
The members of the jury for the first edition of the international HERALBONY prize - founded by brothers Takaya and Fumito Matsuda to support the careers of neurodivergent artists - awarded the grand prize to the work Hyouka by Japanese artist Haruko Asano, following a rigorous selection process from 1973 works by 924 artists of 28 different nationalities.
The prizewinner, diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 20, began painting some ten years later.
The work Hyouka was created in 2024, over a period of 7 months, with Posca pencils on the theme of coral reefs - which release eggs on the night of the full moon - declined into complex and extremely meticulous patterns representing a starry sky, outer space and the moon, drawn on an assemblage of traditional Japanese rice bags made from kraft paper measuring 96 by 164 cm.
“Even the most powerful concentric circle design could never match the sun’s radiant energy, but this work could have the same vitality. It combines the power of the sun, the fundamental motor of plant growth, with its most spectacular result, the blossoming of beauty” commented Christian Berst.
In addition to receiving a cash prize of 3 million yen to encourage her creative activities, Haruka Asano signed an artist’s contract with Heralbony, which will use various licenses to promote her work in Japan and abroad.
In addition to the Grand Prix, seven corporate sponsor prizes and four special jury prizes were also awarded.
Jury Prizes :
– Hiromi Kurosawa : work by Isousin (JP)
– Katsuhiko Hibino, : collage by S. Proski (UK)
– Emina Morioka : drawing by Shu Toriyama (JP)
– Christian Berst : work by Susan Te Kahurangi King (NZ)
The “HERALBONY Art Prize 2024” exhibition - held at the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation gallery - features 12 prizewinners and 58 finalists works.
Several of these artists create in the studios of Yamanami (Japan) and Debajo del sombrero (Spain), with whom galerie christian berst has collaborated for many years.
On the opening day of the exhibition, Christian Berst took the floor on several occasions. In particular, he praised the importance of the HERALBONY prize and the quality of the work of its founders, the brothers Takaya and Fumito Matsuda, and their team.