One of the highlights of the Golden Week holiday this year is the Philip Morris Art Award 2000 Exhibition, on display April 24-May 7 at Yebisu Garden Place. The show presents a refreshingly diverse grouping of 100 contemporary works of art including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures and installations, as well as video art, computer graphics and media art.
This year's competition screened the works of 1,072 entrants to select 100 finalists. The seven prize winners, to be announced April 26, will each receive a 2 million yen cash award along with the opportunity to debut at New York University's Grey Gallery in February 2001, in the exhibit "The First Steps: Emerging Artists from Japan."
"After the bubble economy in Japan burst," says Kazuhiko Hachiya, winner of the award in 1998, "the Japanese contemporary-art market became inactive, and museums provided fewer and fewer forums for contemporary artists to show their artwork."