The 21st "1_WALL" Graphics Exhibition Installation View, "The 21st "1_WALL" Graphics Exhibition", 2019 ©️Guardian Garden Courtesy of Guardian Garden. Young artists are always eager to have the opportunity to not only create their own work, but to present it to the world. Art competitions, which provide opportunities for group exhibitions, solo shows, and grants, are one way for young artists to showcase their work. In Tokyo, among the many art competitions, there is an interesting competition held every year called the "1_WALL" graphic exhibition that discovers talented artists under the age of 35. The 21st "1_WALL" Graphic Exhibition will be held at Guardian Garden in Tokyo. The gallery is managed by Recruit Holdings, Inc., a comprehensive human resource service provider. The exhibition will feature six works by the finalists who passed the second round of screening. The first round of judging focused on the portfolios of all participants, while the second round consisted of one-on-one discussions between the graphic designers who passed the first round of judging and the judges. For the 21st edition of the group exhibition, "1_WALL" was held, with each of the six finalists assigned one side of the wall. Installation View, "The 21st "1_WALL" Graphics Exhibition", 2019 ©️Guardian Garden Courtesy of Guardian Garden. A grand prize will be awarded to one of the six finalists, and the winner will be given the opportunity to have a solo exhibition at Guardian Garden in one year's time, with a grant of 300,000 yen. This final judging will take place during the group exhibition on September 3. The six finalists will give a presentation of their works and the jury will critique them based on the presentation. The final screening will also be open to the public. My impression of this exhibition is that the 21st "1_WALL" is based on diversity. The works range from photography, drawing, installation, painting, printmaking, and even graphic design based works. The artist's portfolio is displayed in the center of the gallery space, and there is also a monitor showing the final judging of last year's 20th "1_WALL" graphic exhibition. The final screening of the 21st "1_WALL" Graphic Exhibition can be viewed after the final screening. According to the people involved, the jury is highly evaluating the artists whose works show progress in their development, rather than a decent result. From the progress, they said, they could see the passion of the finalists and the key to winning the competition, which supports young passionate artists in Japan. Yoshiki Tanaka, 'Feels like sightseeing', Installation View, "The 21st "1_WALL" Graphics Exhibition", 2019 ©️Guardian Garden Courtesy of Guardian Garden. Yuko Mayumi, 'Urban Oasis', Installation View, "The 21st "1_WALL" Graphics Exhibition", 2019 ©️Guardian Garden Courtesy of Guardian Garden. The six finalists who passed the second screening are as follows: Toru Kase, Daisuke Kondo, Maya Kondo, Yoshiki Tanaka, Mousho, and Yuko Mayumi. Daisuke Kondo creates drawings. Daisuke Kondo expresses his inspiration by listening to music; Maya Kondo creates imaginary worlds; Yoshiki Tanaka presents an installation work combining words, drawings, and sculptures inspired by her artist-in-residence program in Hong Kong. Inspired by the artist-in-residence program in Hong Kong, Yoshiki Tanaka will present an installation work that combines words, drawings and sculptures. Mei's drawings represent different types of rooms and different people's time; Yuko Mayumi's "Urban Oasis" crystallizes and combines natural landscapes and urban objects. The 21st "1_WALL" Graphic Exhibition DATES : Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - Saturday, September 28, 2019 Opening hours : 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Closed on Sundays and national holidays. Free admission. Article written by: Jeongeun Jo Born in Korea, lives in Japan. One of the members of TRiCERA, she graduated from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. She is also an artist herself.