The 30^th Praemium Imperiale Laureates Announced

On July 11, the laureates of the 30^th Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu (organized by the Japan Art Association), which publicly honors individual world artists, were announced. In relation to art, the laureates were Pierre Alechinsky, a Belgian contemporary artist and a member of the avant-garde art group ‘CoBrA’ (1945 – 1951), who expresses his inner feelings in versatile styles, employing his free brushwork influenced by calligraphy and the quick drying properties of acrylic paints, in the Painting category; NAKAYA Fujiko, known worldwide as a ‘fog artist’, who first presented her ‘fog sculpture’ made of artificial fog using water at the 1970 Osaka World Exposition and has since produced more than 80 works, including installations, performances and environmental sculptures using fog in the world, in the Sculpture category; and Christian de Portzamparc, a French architect and urban planner, who became famous for his work called ‘City of Music’ and is highly regarded for his work such as on the Nexus World Housing in Fukuoka City. (Japanese)