LOEWE Craft Prize 2019 Winner

Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE creative director, commented on this year’s winner: Ishizuka’s work proves that craft can be open and shows the freedom of creation. His use of an ancient lacquer technique in a contemporary form breaks conventions and represents a new sculptural vision in craft.

The Jury also agreed upon two special mentions:
Harry Morgan, for the work ‘Untitled’ from Dichotomy Series, 2018. The jury commented: This radical work by Harry Morgan is a paradoxical confrontation of materials which don’t belong together. He brings a craft spirit to common materials.

Kazuhito Takadoi for the work KADO (Angle), 2018. The jury admired the work for being a craft without a name and applauded the fact that Takadoi is involved in the piece from conception, from growing the material in his garden to creating an object with a very powerful form.

Jennifer Lee, Winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2018, observer of this year’s prize said: This year’s finalists prove that old traditions of making continue to surprise us and be radical and contemporary. The prize makes you inquisitive and opens your mind to new ways of making and working with materials.

From the 26 June to 22 July, Genta Ishizuka’s winning piece and all the finalists’ works will be showcased at a free exhibition at Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ inside the Sogetsu Kaikan building in Tokyo.
From ceramics, furniture and glassware, to basketry, jewellery and blacksmithing, the show demonstrates the artists’ quests to reconcile the ancient with the avant-garde.

Jury:
 - Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Chairwoman), Architecture and design correspondent for El País.
 - Benedetta Tagliabue, Architect and Pritzker Prize jury member.
 - Deyan Sudjic, Essayist and Director of Design Museum, London.
 - Enrique Loewe, LOEWE FOUNDATION Honorary President.
 - Hong Nam-Kim, President of the National Trust of Korea.
 - Jennifer Lee, Winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize second edition.
 - Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE Creative Director.
 - Naoto Fukasawa, Designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum.
 - Patricia Urquiola, architect and industrial designer.
 - Wang Shu, Architect and Pritzker Prize jury member.
 - Wolfgang Lösche, Head of Exhibition and Fairs at the Chamber of Skilled Trades, Munich.