LONDON.- The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation announced Haroon Mirza as the winner of the Daiwa Foundation Art Prize 2012. The Prize offers a unique opportunity for a British artist to gain exposure to Japan’s visual arts sector. Mirza is now invited to hold a solo exhibition at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE in Tokyo in autumn 2012. In addition, he receives a £5,000 participation fee plus travel and accommodation costs for a seven-day period in Japan to coincide with the opening of the exhibition.

Mirza was awarded the Northern Art Prize in 2010 and held a solo exhibition at London’s prestigious Lisson Gallery in 2011. His work attempts to isolate the perceptual distinctions between noise, sound and music and explore the possibility of the visual and acoustic as one singular aesthetic form. These ideas are examined through lo-fi yet complex assemblages and installations that employ furniture, household electronics, video and existing artworks to formulate temporally based audio compositions.

The Prize was presented at a private awards ceremony by the distinguished panel of judges: Jonathan Watkins, Director of Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Mami Kataoka, Chief Curator at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Masami Shiraishi, President, SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo; Martin Gayford, art critic and author; and Grayson Perry, artist and 2003 Turner Prize winner.

Jason James, Director General of The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation comments: ‘We hope that, in awarding the Daiwa Foundation Art Prize, we will not only open new doors for British artists in Japan but create valuable partnerships and opportunities for the future.’

This is the second Daiwa Foundation Art Prize, which saw over 700 artists submit work for consideration. The inaugural winner, Marcus Coates, was awarded the Prize of a solo exhibition at the Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo. An exhibition of work by the three shortlisted artists, Tom Hammick, Haroon Mirza and Jennifer E. Price will be on display at Daiwa Foundation Japan House until 19 July 2012.