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Photo: Tsukasa Yokozawa

Noriko Ambe
Born in Saitama, Japan in 1967. Received BFA in oil painting from Musashino Art University, Tokyo, in 1990. She started in 1999, using paper, “Linear-Actions Project Cutting/ Drawing.” She individually cuts and stacks hundreds and thousands of pieces of paper to create an original topography; trying to embody the synchronicity between humans and nature. The works have been exhibited solo shows at Pierogi, Brooklyn in 2003 and Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York in 2006, group shows at the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and more. The “Flat Globe, Above NY” piece is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Lives and works in New York.

Makoto Azuma
Born in 1976 and runs his haute couture flower shop ‘JARDINS des FLEURS’ in Moto-Azabu, Tokyo. He discovers the most mystic shapes which flowers and plants only possess, and brings it up to aesthetic level. In 2005, he expanded his activities overseas such as NY, Paris etc. His art exhibition start at NRW forum in Düsseldorf from July 5th to August 3rd 2008, and then the exhibition will travel around European cities. Azuma is now showing his art works monthly at his private gallery AMPG in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Tokyo as two years limited project from April 2007.

Photo: Cassio Vasooncellos

Campana Brothers
Working together since 1983 in Brazil, the brothers Fernando (1961) and Humberto (1953) Campana have built a solid their career achieving both national and international recognition. Subverting the usages of simple materials, their work incorporates the idea of transformation and reinvention. Giving preciousness to these materials carries not only the creativity in design, but also very Brazilian characteristics – colors, mixtures, creative solutions and chaos. Based in Sao Paulo, Estudio Campana is constantly investigating new possibilities in furniture making; creating bridges and dialogues where the exchange of information is also a source of inspiration. Their pieces integrate permanent collections of renowned cultural institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris or the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany.

Asuka Katagiri
Born in Tokyo, Japan, 1971. Graduated from the Department of Photography, Nihon University College of Art, 1994. Worked for Ryukotsushin-sya (magazine publishing company) 1994-96. Selected One-person Exhibitions:“Light Navigation,”Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan, 2005; “kuon+,”Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan, 2003;“the Sea,”art cocoon, Tokyo, Japan, 2002;“Pacific+,”art gallery WALL, Tokyo, Japan, 2002;“Wind,”art cocoon, Tokyo, Japan, and“Wind,”Artland gallery, Kagawa, Japan, 2001;“Breath of the Earth,”Gallery TRAX, Yamanashi, Japan, 1997. Selected Group Exhibitions:“LIGHT AND SHADOW / First There Was Light : First Encounters with Light in Photographic Art,”Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan, 2006. Publications: Light Navigation, Art Design Publishing Company, 2007, kuon, and kuu, Limited Edition Portfolio, 2003.

Photo: Pierre Jusselme

Ross Lovegrove
Born in 1958, Lovegrove studied industrial design at Manchester Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art in London. At the beginning of the 1980s he started work for Frogdesign, an industrial design consultancy in Germany, where he was assigned to projects for Apple and Sony. Going on to work across Europe, he returned to England in 1986 and established his own practice. Since then he has collaborated with some of the world’s most outstanding design manufacturers, such as Knoll, Moroso, Poltrona Frau, Zanotta, VitrA, Yamagiwa Corporation, Tag Heuer, Cappellini, Japan Airlines and Toyo Ito Architects in Japan. Winner of numerous international awards as World Technology Prize by Time Magazine and CNN in November 2005. Awarded the Condé Nast Vogue Traveller Ecology Prize for his SOLAR TREE street lighting for MAK in Vienna, 2007. His work has been extensively published and exhibited internationally including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum NY, AXIS Gallery Japan, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and the Design Museum, London, when in 1993 he curated the first Permanent Collection.

Photo: Sadato Ishizuka

Kaiji Moriyama
Born in Kanagawa, Japan, in 1973. After working with a number of leading contemporary choreographers, in 2001, he started his solo work. He got highly acclaimed at his piece YOROBOSHI and OKINA (2003 & 2004, New National Theatre, Tokyo), which are both inspired from Noh. In 2005, the US debut of his piece KATANA(“sword”) was praised by Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times as “a dance of amazing concentration by an amazing dancer.” In 2007, he was invited to Venice Biennale.

Takeshi Kushida
Born in 1982 in Osaka, Japan, and has been working for PYRAMID FILM in Tokyo since 2006. He graduated from Kent Institute of Art and Design in the U.K. His short film REINCARNATION was selected to FABULOUS FOUR at Adfest 2008, and he was introduced as “one of the most promising directors in Asia”. Filmography-FLOW (Best Experimental Film/ Festival International Du Court Metrage De Lille), Hide and Seek (Best Fiction/ International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Bilbao).

photo: Akira Takahashi

Yukio Nakagawa
Born in 1918 in Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture. His grandfather and aunt belonged to the Ikenobo School of ikebana, and he thus began his study of ikebana. In 1951 he left the Ikenobo School and came to Tokyo. In 1984 he had the first solo exhibition of flower, titled “Karaku; Flower/Water” on the Ginza. Since then, he continues his activity as flower artist without belonging to school. He has held flower performances with musicians, dancers and others. He also creates glass vessels, photographs, and calligraphy. He exhibits for “Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan” in ICP, New York, 2008. His books include The Flowers, The Flowers of Yukio Nakagawa, Fear of Flowers, Flower Glass, A Flower with Mystic Mountain, etc.

Tokujin Yoshioka
Born in Saga, Japan in 1967. After worked under Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, established his own studio, Tokujin Yoshioka Design in 2000. He has collaborated with various noted companies in and outside Japan such as HERMES, SWAROVSKI and ISSEY MIYAKE, which he has been doing shop design and installation. The paper chair “Honey-pop” (2001), Yamagiwa’s lighting “ToFU” and cell phone “MEDIA SKIN” for au design project have been highly evaluated as art works simply more than design works and became a part of permanent collections in the world’s well-known museums such as Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Major awards: Mainichi Design Award, 2001. Cultural Affairs Section of Government of Japan, Encourage Prize, 2006. Design Miami/Designer of the Year, 2007. Selected as one of “100 Japanese respected by the world” in Newsweek magazine of Japanese edition.
http://www.tokujin.com/