A List of online judges for the 1st Selection 2013
(Alphabetical oreder)

2D-I - 2D-II - 3D | Photography | VIdeo / Animation | Contemporary II

Colin Wiggins (National Gallery London, Special Projects Curator) - Head Judge of EWAA 2013

Colin Wiggins Last year, I was delighted to see a wonderful Japanese sculptor win the award. In the opinion of the judges, her work was the most deserving of first prize although it was a very difficult decision for us. She did not win because she is Japanese, or a sculptor, she won because of the unique qualities of her work.

The most significant thing about this prize is that it is open to ANYONE, regardless of age, nationality, religion or gender. Everybody has a chance of winning EWAA prizes. All he or she needs is talent and, of course, dedication to their art.

Our mission is to uncover hidden talent and great works from entries which are not only from UK but also from Far East, South-East Asia, Europe as well as USA.

This unique art competition will also enable great friendships among artists all around the world. Again, for this year, submissions for all categories are warmly welcomed and judges are eagerly anticipating exciting and innovative works.

We hope the annual EWAA Competition will become artists’ gateway to success, and inspire them to make their mark on the art world.

Colin Wiggins

Colin Wiggins is both art historian and artist. He began his career as a Research Assistant in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum before moving to work in the Education Department of the National Gallery, London, where he spent the last three years as Head of Education.

He has played a key role in the involvement of living artists in the life of the Gallery and has curated exhibitions there of artists such as Peter Blake, Paula Rego, Anthony Caro, Ed and Nancy Kienholz and, most recently, Bridget Riley. A practising printmaker, he attempts in his work to bridge the gap between the artistic traditions of Europe and Japan.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Prof. Emeritus Dan Fern (Royal College of Art. Award-winning graphic and multimedia artist)

Professor Dan Fern is an award-winning graphic and multimedia artist as well as being an influential teacher.

Trained at Manchester College of Art and the Royal College of Art, Fern has worked extensively across all areas of visual communication, including a set of postage stamps for the Royal Mail, posters for the London Underground, book-jackets, magazine covers, record sleeves etc; his graphic work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the Joan Miro Foundation in Barcelona , Tate Liverpool and the Smithsonian Institute in New York, as well as being in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

As a video artist working collaboratively with musicians, his work has been performed in front of audiences at the Bath International Music Festival, London’s South Bank Centre and the Hamburg Philharmonie.

In September 2010 he was commissioned by the Royal Opera House to produce large-scale multimedia installations for the Deloitte Ignite Festival, curated by the musician Joanna MacGregor. He has regularly exhibited non-commissioned work in galleries in the UK and overseas, most recently in solo shows in London and Munich.

Dan Fern was made a Professor Emeritus of the Royal College of Art in July 2010, following his retirement as Head of the School of Communications there. He continues his connection with the RCA as a supervisor of research students.

With a long-standing interest in mountaineering, Dan Fern’s work as an artist and film-maker for the past 10 years has been focused on the landscape of the Vercors region of south-east France, where he has a studio.

http://www.dan-fern.com
http://www.rca.ac.uk

Shai Ohayon (independent curator and director of exhibition space 'The Container' Tokyo)

Sandra Higgins Shai Ohayon is an independent curator with international repertoire, and the director of the exhibition space ‘The Container’ in Tokyo.

His curatorialship focuses on contemporary western and Japanese art that defy conventional practices and seek to democratise art. He is the producer of a series of themed art happenings, ArtGigTokyo, which present internationally renowned artists side-by-side with emerging artists in public venues.

Both his ArtGigTokyo events and his gallery, The Container, earned him national (Japan) and international exposure, with reviews in ArtAsiaPacific, Artforum, Glass Magazine, Dazed & Confused, ArtINFO, Art-iT, Bijutsu-Techo/BT, The Japan Times, and Asahi Shimbun, to mention only a few. His next ArtGigTokyo event will take place in October 2013 in Shinjuku station in Tokyo, the world’s largest train station.

http://the-container.com
http://www.ewaac.com/index_shai.html

Sandra Higgins(Art advisor/curator in the UK and international)

Sandra Higgins is an Independent Art Advisor and Curator with more than 20 years of experience in the art world of London. She has a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Art History. She was a practicing artist/printmaker and tutor in the US. When she came to the UK in the early 90s she opened her own gallery, ‘Sandra Higgins Fine Art’, in Mayfair. Currently she acts as an advisor/curator for many individual clients, corporations and institutions. She is a guide for the Tate Gallery and a long-standing member of the Chelsea Arts Club where she organises educational talks by outstanding individuals in the arts for the club members each year.

Sandra represents international artists as their agent and has curated exhibitions for clients at Imperial Wharf, Old Broad Street Headquarters of Landmark Plc. In addition she has curated exhibitions at Blacks Club Soho, and Mark Powell’s Photographic Gallery in Soho, London. Sandra exhibits artists annually at international art fairs and organises ‘pop-up’ exhibitions regularly and has recently begun a series of Private Receptions to meet selected artists in her Gallery Petit at home.

Sandra's newest venture is Discover Art Now, an online portal for discovering and collecting original art created by a selection of artists working in a range of different media.

www.sandrahiggins.com
www.discoverartnow.co.uk

Professor Jin Kim (Artist and Professor of Daegu University, South Korea)

kyujung_kim Jin Kim received BFA and Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Chung-Ang University in Korea, and　then he moved to London where he studied Master of Fine Arts at University of the arts London, Chelsea art and Design.

Since Kim’s stay in London, his works drew attentions from galleries overseas and received superb reviews for his solo exhibition at Stables Gallery in London and Miki Wick Kim Contemporary Gallery in Zurich. He had several solo exhibitions which were held in London (2008, 2009), Zurich (2008), Sun Contemporary in Seoul (2010) and had a big solo show at Artside Gallery in Beijing (2011).

Domestically he was awarded many prestigious prizes including 19th and 21st Grand Art Exhibitions of Korea, 23rd and 24th Joongang Fine Arts Prize and 32nd Fine Arts Association Prize and in 2010, Kim was selected as Young Artist 10 from SOAF for 2011. He has been actively engaging in international art market such as Bridge Art Miami (2007), Bridge Art New York (2008) and KIAF (2010).

He lectured at Chung-Ang, Sejong, and Hanseo University and is currently a professor of　Daegu University.

http://www.suncontemporary.com/artists/kimjin_intro.html
http://www.artside.org/cha/current/current_01.php
http://www.daegu.ac.kr/

Michael Lyons (British sculptor. Traveled and worked extensively abroad)

Michael Lyons Born 1943, England. Studied sculpture at Wolverhampton College of Art 1959-63 and the University of Newcastle-upon–Tyne 1964 -7.

He lives and works in Yorkshire, but has exhibited and travelled extensively abroad.

Formerly Head of Sculpture at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was a Founding Member of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 1997 and Vice President of the Royal British Society of Sculptors from 1994 -7. He was Guest Professor at China National Academy, Hangzhou in 1993 and Tianjin Academy in 2003. In 2000 he was an Advisor to Tsinghua University’s 90th Anniversary Exhibition and Symposium ‘Art and Science’ at China National Gallery, Beijing.

He has represented Britain in many International Sculpture Symposia including Changchun, Hangzhou, Guilin and Beijing. He was Artist-Residence at Redgate Gallery, Beijing in 2001 and 2002. In 2003 he won the Yuzi Prize (1st Prize) at the 1st Guilin Yuzi Paradise International Sculpture Awards. In 2009 he was Artist– in–Residence at Shanghai Sculpture Park where his monumental bronze ‘Voice of the Mountain: Sudden Storm’ was permanently sited in 2011.

Since 2004 he has exhibited widely in Mexico and South America. In 2006 he won the ‘Premio Fundacion Nacional de las Artes’ at Chaco Biennale, Argentina. In 2010 his sculpture ‘ Fleeting Sun: Serpents Rising’ was permanently sited at Parque Bicentenario, Metepec, Mexico. He has works in the collections of the University of Guadalajara, and the University of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He was included in ‘Strategies of Form: Steel Sculpture’ at MARCO, Monterrey in 2008.

In 2012 the Yale Centre for British Art, Yale University, USA acquired three sculptures and ten drawings from the ‘Lady Zhen’s Well Series’ for its Collection. The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds acquired his early sculpture ‘Traitors’ Gate’ He was one of the British artists in the 5th Beijing International Art Biennale at China National Art Gallery.

http://www.michaellyonssculptor.com

Tina Tsang(Ceramic Artists, Owner of Undergrowth Design, UK /Singapore)

tina Tina Tsang graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2005 in illustration and animation.

Her diverse background that includes film, painting, animation, photography, costume design, fashion design and trend forecasting has enabled　her to have a broad understanding of aesthetics and trends within the design　world. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to designing and feels that her　experience in many design disciplines helps enrich the quality and depth of her work. Her work was awarded ‘Best in Ceramic’ in 2009 for the hidden art awards.

She has launched her own brand ‘Undergrowth Design’ for series of tableware that started in 2007 which has been featured in around 350 press articles worldwide and owned by celebrities such as Tracy Emin, Stella McCartney, Vivienne westwood via the Last supper LTD, Russle Brand via libertys, Andy bell of Erasure and many more.

She has had her creative base in London since 2001 but frequently travels back to South East Asia and Singapore to gain inspiration for her work. We work with both catering and retail clients both in UK and internationally. Undergrowth has around 200 stockists worldwide.

http://www.undergrowthdesign.com/shop/

Peter Zhao(Art Director and founder of Purple Roof Art Gallery in Shang Hai, China)

Peter Zhao graduated from The University of Western Ontario,Canada with over ten’s years management experience in global top 500 corporations. Thus he fuses the different mindsets of eastern and western cultures through this experience.

After earlier retirement in 1997, he devoted himself into a round-world art trip with the enthusiasm and passion for art. During his trip, he visited those nations and cities bearing ancient history and culture in Europe, America and Oceania, and experienced local customs and culture, browsed through various treasures of art, and absorbed nutritious of art from this trip. During his years of travels around the world, he built up relationships with many international art organizations and had frequent interactions with a lot of international art masters. Through these actions, he has gathered rich resources of art works and artists. After he returned to China in 2006, he founded Purple Roof Art Gallery and focused on investment and cultivation of domestic contemporary artists with potentials; he also devoted to promoting excellent foreign artists to China.

After founding Purple Roof, Peter Zhao then set up first international standard foundry art factory CFAF（China Fine Art Foundry). Up to now this factory exclusively possesses ‘silicon bronze and color copper processing’ technique.

With a keen eye on public art and sculpture, he curated Shanghai Art Fair theme sculpture in three years’ run and also participated in the curation of Expo 2010 Shanghai Jing’An International Sculpture Project (biennial). He promoted the art works of Purple Roof artists to become public environment sculptures of 2010 Shanghai EXPO and these works permanently exhibit in Shanghai EXPO park river area.

Peter Zhao possesses absolute professional and mature enterprise management experience and capability on one hand, and on the other hand he is gifted with in-depth culture deposit and art work creation capability with distinctive personal style. His creation ‘Bronze Bench and Bird Statue/Bronze Installation Series’ reinterprets history and narrates his unique understanding and brand-new expression of Chinese ancient culture. In 2009 he was elected as the bid winner of ‘Glorious 60 years – the most influential athletes of New China’ trophy design.

Curated Events:
2007 Shanghai Art Fair Theme Sculpture
2008 Shanghai Art Fair Theme Sculpture
2009 Shanghai Art Fair Theme Sculpture
2010 Expo 2010 Shanghai Jing’An International Sculpture Project

http://www.purpleroof.com.cn/

Gail Deayton (Director of Hong Kong Art Tutoring. Writer and interviewer to artists globally)

peter zhao Gail was born in the UK and studied Fine Art Sculpture at Manchester University. She began her teaching career, later becoming Head of Department in a number of schools. She moved to Hong Kong in 1997, having also lived in Dubai and Indonesia. She set up Hong Kong Art Tutoring, of which she is the director.

Gail writes a weekly blog - Artist of the Week - where she interview artists globally. She spend a lot of time looking for emerging artists that are starting to break into the international circuit or have the potential to. She said she has been lucky enough to interview some incredibly interesting individuals from many different countries with a variety of backgrounds.

She shares the blog with many facets of the art world there in South East Asia. Exposing new and current artists who are actively producing and exhibiting is a stimulating process and has given many of them a boost in an area like SE Asia, where they lack connections.

http://www.hkarttutoring.com/2013/05//

Michael Freeman (Internationally renowned professional photographer and author)

Michael Freeman is an internationally renowned photographer and author, who has produced more than 100 books, including a number of well-respected volumes on the practice of photography. Following an M.A. in Geography from Oxford, and several years in advertising, he began his photographic career in London with the the encouragement of Time-Life, his first client.

Principal photographer for the Smithsonian Magazine for many years, Freeman’s work has been widely published internationally in all major magazines, as well as a large number of illustrated photographic books that include Shaker (Stewart Tabori & Chang), Angkor:The Hidden Glories (Houghton Mifflin), China Contemporary (Thames & Hudson and Rizzoli), and Sudan: Land and People (Thames & Hudson, reviewed by Paul Theroux: “This magnificent book .... gives the country a face - irresistible, photogenic, bewitching and profoundly human.”

For his photographic writing, with two million books sold in many languages, he was awarded the Prix Louis Philippe Clerc fromn the Musée Française de la Photographie in Bièvres, France. He was consultant for, and appeared in, a BBC Television photography series. He has also judged the Nikon Press Awards and has designed, written and continues to supervise all of the British Open College of the Arts photography courses (which now accumulate to a BA Honours degree, the first photography degree available through distance learning in the UK).

http://www.michaelfreemanphoto.com/

Luisa Bockmeulen (Curator for Proud Gallery Chelsea, Camden)

hiromix Luisa Bockmeulen graduated from Central Saint Martins in Criticism, Communication and Curation for Art and Design in 2007 which covered a broad range of disciplines including photography, curating and critical writing.

Since graduating Luisa has continued her interest in the arts and photography by working for Proud Galleries, a commercial photographic gallery specialising in music photography as the curator of exhibitions for both galleries in Camden and Chelsea.

With a strong eye for commercial appeal, Luisa has played a key role in introducing new photographers and exhibitions to the gallery and establishing Proud Chelsea on the King's Road.

http://www.proud.co.uk/

Lin Meiki (Taiwanese professional photographer active in Japan.)

lin Born in 1969 in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture in Japan into Taiwanese parents, Lin started photography at the age of 18.

He made full use of digital cameras to capture the natural landscapes of archipelagos around Japan since 2008. He produced and presented works with subtle atmosphere and a sense of transparency of the natural landscapes.

In 1998, Lin held a photo exhibition 'Mt. Amakazari'(a one of the famous Japanese Mountains peaks across Niigata and Nagano prefectures), which he began gathering materials since 1995. Exhibition held in 2001, 'Water side story' expresses unique landscapes of the Japanese archipelago and its beauty of water and how the nature give off water. 'Moments of Forests' 2004, wondering around forests of the Japanese archipelago, and 'Magnificent Nature, Mt. Daisetsuzan' 2008 capturing the vast view of mountains were both held at the Fuji Photo Salon.

His Works 'Mt Amakazari' and 'Water side Story' were published by Aiikusha, and 'Moments of Forests' published by Shogakukan was awarded a grand prize winner of the Nature Photographic Book of the Year at the 2005 International Federation of Wildlife Photographic Society (IFWP). Among others there are 'Water Legend' (co-author, Heibonsha 2007) and 'Magnificent Nature, Mt. Daisetsuzan' (Shougakukan, 2008) available.

In 2007, Lin held an exhibition 'Global Traveller' at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (later it was exhibit at the Matsumoto City Museum). In 2008, 'New Heights' were held at the Fukushima Museum of Photography. Collections of 'Magnificent Nature, Mt. Daisetsuzan' was stored up in Higashikawa Cultural Gallery in Hokkaido.
At present, Lin walks around many parts of the Japanese archipelago to chase the ecology of beech undergoing a rapid transformation due to global warming.

Lin is a member of Japan Photographers Association, a trustees at Japan Photographic Society of Natural Science, a teacher at Club Tourism, and a lecturer at Hasselblad Photo Club,Yokohama.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/rin-meiki/

Mineko Orisaku (Professor, Osaka University of Arts/Photography. Professional Photographer)

Trained under Shoji Otake, a prominent figure in Japanese photography, Mineko Orisaku has successively won prizes in the photographic division of the National Nika Exhibition in 1985 and 1986.

She became independent in 1987. She has been capturing some beautiful landscapes and moments of human figures from all parts of the world, with her tender female point of view.
She holds photo exhibitions in Japan and abroad as well as appearing on TV and giving lectures extensively.

Currently she is a .professor, Osaka University of Arts / Faculty of Arts/Photography Department.

She has unique background that she was chosen to represent Japan in Miss Universe 1981, held in new York.

http://www.orisaku.com/

David Stetson (Award winning British fashion, portrait and commercial photographer)

Born: London 1953.

David Stetson studied at the Hornsey College of Art in London and New York University Film School. Launched a successful career as a Fashion Photographer in London and later in New York at his studio on Manhattan’s Park Avenue South. Currently living in Tokyo,

David’s prolific portfolio includes: Sophia Loren, Alfred Hitchcock, and the late Princess Diana. He has worked for leading luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Givenchy, Guertain, Guy Laroche, Hugo Boss and Yves Saint Laurent… and shot for leading publications world-wide including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as working as Director/Cameraman on TV commercials, music promotion videos and as Consultant Creative Director for advertising agencies.

He has exhibited his photography in major galleries in New York, London, Tokyo, Cologne and Singapore.

http://www.davidstetson.com/

JC Little (Animator, Founder of Little Animation. Canada)

Steven Cassar JC Little is The Animated Woman: mom, animator, humorist... compelling speaker and social media minx! Always playful and often poignant, she blogs her eclectic slice-of-life stories with unique drawings and animation at TheAnimatedWoman.com.

She's a happily married mother of three and a director whose 30+ year career in animation has spanned commercials, feature films, TV series, new media, and mobile apps. JC is a Wacom-featured artist, she delivers illustrated keynotes on leadership, visual storytelling and empathy, and has created and directed a Disney-syndicated, Gemini-nominated kids TV show, My Life Me.

A busy entrepreneur, JC's Montreal based company Little Animation produces earth-friendly animated media for kids. Her latest adventure is launching the PickleWeasel iPad drawing app, designed specially to get people laughing, drawing and sharing. Stylus in hand, she can be found drawing and engaging with her tribe throughout the week on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.and engaging with her tribe throughout the week on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

http://www.theanimatedwoman.com

http://www.theanimatedwoman.com/p/tv-series.html

Prof. Emeritus Dan Fern (Royal College of Art. Award-winning graphic and multimedia artist)

Yonguk, LEE (Associate Professor, Tokyo Polytechnic University. Dep. of Imaging Art)

lee Born in Korea, Li migrated to Japan in 1990. After studying CG designing, he went on to study experimental film and media art at a graduate　level. Since then, he started exploring the possibilities of 'images as art'.

Having sorely understanding the historical experiences of inter media and multi media, Li's wide　range of expressions from his cross-media angle include two dimensional, three dimensional,　installation and event.

Recently he collaborates with a lot of physical expressionists such as contemporary dance and other　dances in general.

Li's academic activities in seeking the current media art is going strongly, holding the International　meeting on art and aesthetics annually (The 2nd International Conference on Media Art and Information Aesthetics was held in 2010 ).

Currently, Associate Professor of Tokyo Polytechnic University, Faculty of Arts Department of Imaging Art. Head of Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences, The Study of Cross Media.

http://tpucollegeofart.wordpress.com/

Hiraki Sawa (Internationally renowned Japanese media artist)

lee Hiraki　Sawa was born in Ishikawa, Japan. He currently lives and works in London.

He was graduated from MFA Sculpture, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London

Since 2002, Sawa has had solo exhibitions at institutions and museums the world over including Chisenhale Gallery, London, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Hammer Museum, LA and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC.

He has taken part in numerous group shows and international art festivals including Lyon Biennial 2003, Yokohama Triennial 2005, ArsElectronica2007, Busan Biennial 2008, Asia Pacific Triennial 2009 and Sydney Biennial 2010.

He is represented by James Cohan Gallery, New York and Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo.

Selected solo exhibitions/screenings
2011 - James Cohan Gallery, New York, US
2010 - Musée du Temps and Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Besançon, Besançon, France
2009 - Yu-un, Tokyo, Japan
2008 - Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, US
2007 - Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK
2006 - National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
2005 - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, US
2005 - UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, US
2004 - Hayward Gallery, London, UK

http://www.otafinearts.com/en/artists/hiraki-sawa/

Prof. Kyujung Kim (Professor, Soongsil University, Global School of Media, College of IT, S.Korea)

kyujung_kim He was born in Seoul. In 1988 he received his Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Hongik University, then moved to New York and he continued Master study and received Doctor of Arts degree in art and Media at New York University.

His artistic work at that time was based on an examination of multimedia by making interactive installation arts. In 1999 he returned to Seoul, and began teaching at Hongik University and his work in interactive media installations and held various media art shows as an artistic practice. From 1999 he holds a position as Professor at Global School of Media, College of IT, Soongsil University in Seoul where he currently works and lives.

Since 1999 he has received several Korea national Research foundation awards for the media related projects and he has been travelling between China, Japan, and recently USA for projects, exhibitions and conferences.

Recent interactive installation exhibitions have taken place at Louis Pohl Gallery, Honolulu (2011); Gallery Hinoki, Tokyo(2010); Art Center at Chung-Ang University, Seoul(2008); Key Gallery, Tokyo and Tenri Cultural Institute of New York Gallery(2007); Gallery Ariel, Pusan(2005); Ichon Contemporary Art Center(2000); Rosenberg Gallery, New York(1998); Photography Hall Gallery, New York Univ.(1995-7); Total Art Museum and Inkong Gallery, Korea(1994); 80 Washington East Galleries, New York Univ.(1992). And he has held more solo and group exhibitions in Korea and other countries. Between 2011-12 he will continue media related research as a visiting professor at UCSB in California.

http://www.ssu.ac.kr/web/kor/home_visual

Tsukasa Kishimoto (Award Winning Animator and VJ artist in Japan)

kyujung_kim Tsukasa started his music career at the age of 16. He was a singer in a rock band while at university in Ehime, Japan, as well as organising various events. He worked on all the aspects of the projects including directing, set decoration, lighting, flyer designing, VJing and making their own music videos.

After that, he has been involved in a wide range of music and visual projects as an audio visual engineer, such as getting production credit on major label albums and supplying sound effects for computer music composing software 'DTM' (Desktop Music). At ‘DESIGN FESTA NO.17’, international art event held at Tokyo Big Sight, his work was chosen as the top picture of the event recording video and he provided his film and music.

In recent years he has moved his base to Tokyo focusing on more VJ events. While playing as a VJ for parties at many clubs, he creates various kinds of video ads and animation videos with his speciality in VJ techniques. In 2012 he won the Best Category Prize of the Video/Animation Category at EWAA 2012 which was held in London, UK.

Also in 2012 he joined the Projection Mapping project on 'Shaka-do', wooden temple built in Muromachi-era, which is designated as a National Treasure. He is now working hard to give help and advice to young talents in Japan for video and animation creation.

http://www.nanographica.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/japonegraphica

Prof. Marty St.James (Award winning and practicing Performance Video and Multi-media artist)

Marty St.James Forty of his video pieces have been archived by the British Film Institute in the UK including Mr and Mrs (1976) his first video work based on a television game show appearance and Metamorphosis (Headcake 1998). During the 1980’s a number of his video works were broadcast on national television including Timecode (Heartbeat 1988) shown in a number of countries worldwide.

The Video Portraits of the 1990’s are some of his best known works including The Swimmer an 11 monitor installation work in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. These works ranged from miniature single monitor video objects to large multi-monitor installations.

He has represented Britain abroad in a number of exhibitions, performance art events, video screenings and festivals via the British Council and Arts Council, including, Electronically Yours at the Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Tokyo (1998) and Artec Nagoya, Japan (1995). During 2000 his year- long inter-active digital work Picture Yourself showed at the Scottish National Galleries celebrating the millennium with the public able to see themselves projected on the museum walls. In 2000 his Boy / Girl video diptych showed at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Painting the Century, 101 Portrait Masterpieces from the 20th century including Picasso, Freud, Bacon, Warhol, Munch etc… Running through St.James’ works there has been a sense of self-portraiture or the portraiture of others. In his recent shows in Moscow, The Journey of St Maurin (2002) and New York Somewhere or Between (2005) there has been a sense of the artist involved in a struggle to locate an inner sense of self and being. And a serious attempt to try and convey this to audience rather than ignore their presence or pander to our obvious emotions. Too much video art has tended to rely on the obvious, cheap tricks and gimmicks; St James has begun a process of real engagement between self, medium and viewer.

On the subject of his drawings St.James describes his paper works as ‘thinking actions’, things that land and are fought onto the paper via thinking.

"Marty St.James believes that art only matters if the artist has something important to say, that his or her work is not simply an item of commercial transaction. His is an Apollonian discourse rather than a Dionysian one. For him art is a way of thinking in the visual rather than the making of a heroic statement or precious object. He is in tune with Bachelard’s notion that the embodiment of knowledge exists in the action of making, rather than in the object of the finished piece. His intention is to investigate “the stringing together of moments in frame type form to explore surface and time.”-by Sue Hubbard Arts Editor The Independent Newspaper, London

http://martystjames.com/

James Lingwood (Co-Director, Artangel)

michael lyons After exhibition curator for ICA London (1986-90) James Lingwood has been Co-Director of Artangel with Michael Morris since 1991.

Amongst some 80 projects produced over the past decade and a half are Rachel Whiteread’s House (1993-94), Michael Landy’s Break Down (2001) in Oxford Street, Gregor Schneider’s Die Familie Schneider (2004), Francis Alÿs’ Seven Walks (2005), Roni Horn’s Vatnasafn/Library of Water in Iceland (2007) and Roger Hiorns’ Seizure(2008), as well as ambitious moving image installation with artists such as Douglas Gordon, Steve McQueen and Tony Oursler.

In addition to his work with Artangel, Lingwood has curated exhibitions for national and international arts institutions including Juan Muñoz’s Double Bind (2001) in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, Field Trips – Robert Smithson and Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Museu Serralves in Porto and Douglas Gordon’s exhibition What Have I Done (2002) at the Hayward Gallery in London.

He has organised major survey exhibitions with Vija Celmins, Juliao Sarmento, Thomas Struth and Thomas Schütte. He is a Trustee of The Art Fund and The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and is on the International Advisory Board of the Museu Serralves, Porto.

http://www.artangel.org.uk/

Shai Ohayon (independent curator and director of exhibition space 'The Container' Tokyo)

Sandra Higgins Shai Ohayon is an independent curator with international repertoire, and the director of the exhibition space ‘The Container’ in Tokyo.

His curatorialship focuses on contemporary western and Japanese art that defy conventional practices and seek to democratise art. He is the producer of a series of themed art happenings, ArtGigTokyo, which present internationally renowned artists such as Yoko Ono, Jim Lambie, Makoto Aida, Elmgreen & Dragset and ZEVS … side-by-side with emerging artists in public venues.

Both his ArtGigTokyo events and his gallery, The Container, earned him national (Japan) and international exposure, with reviews in ArtAsiaPacific, Artforum, Glass Magazine, Dazed & Confused, ArtINFO, Art-iT, Bijutsu-Techo/BT, The Japan Times, and Asahi Shimbun, to mention only a few. His next ArtGigTokyo event will take place in October 2013 in Shinjuku station in Tokyo, the world’s largest train station.

http://the-container.com
http://www.ewaac.com/index_shai.html

Chiho Aoshima(Japanese contemporary artist (Kaikai Kiki))

Chihiro Aoshima Chiho Aoshima uses computer software to create unique and extraordinary worlds full of ghosts, demons, schoolgirls, and exquisite natural landscapes. The beauty and delicate eroticism of this distinctly Japanese world have earned her considerable acclaim from designers and forward thinking museum curators. Her work is printable on any surface, including paper and plastic.

In 2006, her artwork was featured in a massive installation inside London’s Gloucester Underground station. She was also the focus of much attention for her pitcher design for Absolut Vodka in 2010. In recent years, Aoshima has shifted her focus from digital production to drawings in pencil and sculptures, staring ever deeper into the darker areas of her mind. Her drawing series 1000 Spirits, will soon reach its conclusion.

Chiho Aoshima’s Selected Exhibitions

-The Red-Eyed Tribe, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
-Kawaii! – Horror and Seduction, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
-The Giant and the Courtesans, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
-Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
-Solo Exhibition, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
-Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
-Gloucester Road Underground Station Installation, Platform for Art, London, UK
-Art Unlimited, Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
-Macromatrix For Your Pleasure, UC Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
-Collaboration with Naoki Takizawa for Issey Miyake, Tokyo

http://gallery-kaikaikiki.com/category/artists/chiho_aoshima/

Toshihiro Asai (Artistic Director, Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito)

michael lyons Having involved in project management for Art Tower Mito as a museum　 curator during its opening preparation period, Toshihiro Asai was appointed to his current position since 2009.

He has managed numerous number of exhibitions and outreach projects ever since his first project: MITO ANNUAL '92, followed by ‘Private Diary 10 - - Japanese Young Artists’, ‘KAWAGUCHI Tatsuo 1990-1998’, ‘PRIVATE ROOM II -- Photographs by a New Generation of Women in Japan’, ‘BIT GENERATION 2000 -- TV GAMES’, ‘PROMENADE IN ASIA – CUTE’, ‘The Chronicles of KAIYODO’, ‘Taku Satoh -- DESIGNS IN ORDINARY LIVES’, ‘Tatsuya Matsui -- Flower Robotics’, ‘Tse Su-Mei’ etc.

His research subjects include contemporary art, photography and aesthetics. He also currently teaches part-time at the Iwate University and Kansai Gakuin University.

http://www.arttowermito.or.jp/

http://asai310.at.webry.info/

Professor Jin Kim (Artist and Professor of Daegu University, South Korea)

Momoyo Torimitsu(New York based contemporary artist)

Momoyo Torimitsu is an artist who has lived and worked in New York City since 1996, when she arrived from Japan to join the prestigious P.S. 1 International Studio Program.

Torimitsu was raised in a suburb of Tokyo, during her country’s period of breakneck economic growth. Growing up in this environment has profoundly influenced her work, which strives to reflect on the effect of capitalism in our daily life. Torimitsu believes that the “reality” of the senses is often remote from that which actually lies around us, and may in fact lie closer to illusion. In much of her work, Torimitsu is inspired by the hypocritical imagery of corporate culture and the media imagery of happiness, cuteness, and smiling, which she reexamines through the lenses of irony and humor. One of Torimitsu’s earlier works, the Miyata Jiro Project, is a prime example of her approach. Using the stereotypical image of a Japanese businessman, she built a life-size crawling robot as a corporate “soldier” and accompanied him to major financial centers around the world, where the robot crawled along the streets.

Torimitsu’s investigation and review of corporate culture is ongoing, with an emphasis on the world’s current situation. For example, she has examined global business competition, with three businessmen competing in Inside Track (2004-2010) and a time-based installation of 100 mini-businessmen crawling over an abstract world diorama in Horizons (2004-2010).

Torimitsu’s art is shown internationally. Recent exhibitions include: Utopia Now, International Biennial of Media Art, Experimenta, Melbourne 2010; Shenzhen Biannual of Urbanism\Architecture 2009, Shenzhen, China; ISEA (International Symposium of Electric Art) 2008; National Museum of Singapore, Singapore; All About Laughter, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Thermocline of Art - New Asian Waves -, ZKM, Karlsruhe,; Garden Party , Deitch Projects, New York; and Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea.

http://www.momoyotorimitsu.com/

David Stetson (Award winning British fashion, portrait and commercial photographer)

Born: London 1953.

David Stetson studied at the Hornsey College of Art in London and New York University Film School. Launched a successful career as a Fashion Photographer in London and later in New York at his studio on Manhattan’s Park Avenue South. Currently living in Tokyo.

David’s prolific portfolio includes: Sophia Loren, Alfred Hitchcock, and the late Princess Diana. He has worked for leading luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Givenchy, Guertain, Guy Laroche, Hugo Boss and Yves Saint Laurent… and shot for leading publications world-wide including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as working as Director/Cameraman on TV commercials, music promotion videos and as Consultant Creative Director for advertising agencies.

He has exhibited his photography in major galleries in New York, London, Tokyo, Cologne and Singapore.

http://www.davidstetson.com/