2008 NY Coo Open Art Contest
“An Exhibition of Selected Works”

For December, we are proud to present “An Exhibition of Selected Works” featuring award-winning artworks, including IBERICA and NY Coo awards, from 2008 NY Coo Open Art Contest held during the month of September. As in last year, the 2008 contest was again sponsored by IBERICA USA, Inc. in association with All Nippon Airways (ANA), with same creative themes − sunflower and/or health.

The annual exhibition − our third − will include over 20 exceptional artworks selected from nearly 150 sunflower/health-themed images by the artists from around the world including the U.S.A., Japan, France and others.

In her “Sunflower − A Bud,” Ms. Toko Tokunaga, the winner of IBERICA Award, invents an entirely new visual identity for sunflowers. In a composition that’s bold, powerful and highly unconventional, she recreates a budding sunflower using varying shades of warm colors and almost-subliminal visual cues that help to enhance the sense of realism. After finishing Musashino Art College (in oil painting), Ms. Tokunaqa went on to graduate from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts.
A member of both Salon des Artistes Francais and Japan Artists Association, she is active in the solo exhibition circuit in both Japan and abroad. Currently living in Japan, Ms. Tokunaga receives a pair of ANA roundtrip airline tickets between the U.S.A and Japan and $ 500 cash.

Through his NY Coo Award-winning work, consisting of 2 separate paintings entitled “Sunflowers” and “A Sunflower,” and its distinctive matiereof runny, dripping paints that embody his artistic passion and curiosity, Toshinori Nakaya expresses the unlimited creative joy. Born in Ehime prefecture, Japan, he graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he lives. Mr. Nakaya receives $ 500 cash.

It is a pure coincidence that this year’s top 2 award winners graduated from the same school.

One of the Judge’s Choice Award winners, Ms. Matty Kahn is a 91 year-old self-taught artist from Manhattan’s Upper East Side who has been painting for over 8 decades. The inspiration for “The Breath of the Sunflower” came from a sunflower field she once saw while traveling in Italy. This is her first artistic award and we are proud to have “discovered” her.

Using various techniques such as oil painting, computer graphics, block prints, pastel drawings and mixed media with eggshells, each artist in the exhibition, crossing over racial and cultural boundaries, offers a unique visual interpretation of “sunflower” and/or “health.”

NY Coo Gallery

NY Coo Gallery / IBERICA USA, INC. / All Nippon Airway Co., Ltd.

*******************�Newsletter �*******************�

The opening reception for 2008 NY Coo Open Art Contest “An Exhibition of Selected Works” was held on the evening of Thursday, December 4th. With many artists − including all six top prize winners − in attendance, guests enjoyed asking questions, sharing their thoughts and taking pictures!

The perfect exhibition for anyone who loves sunflowers. Until December 20th.

You can see more photos : <click here>

�� � � � � � � � � � � � A scene from the opening reception�/ �Artists at the reception / Scene from the award ceremony

IBERICA Award / “Sunflower・Bud”� Toko Tokunaga

NY Coo Award / “Sunflowers”� Toshinori Nakaya

“Heart is sunflower” Akiko Yokoyama
“Offer the Pulse of Dawn” Amir Hariri
“Sunflower Triptych − Middle” Alex Conrad
“Sunflower Triptych − Right” Alex Conrad
“Sunflower Makes Time Axis Turn” Eiji Matukubo
“Color, Wind, Heat and Water” Eiji Matsukubo
“Glow of Life” Kayoko Toyohara
“Shining” Junko Ohta
“Sun Birth” Mayuko Oki
“The Breath of the Sunflower” Matty Kahn
“Untitled (Sunflower 2)” Michael Tyson Murphy
“Uh…” Mikiko Kanno
“Recycling” Mikiko Kanno
“Cheers!” Megumi Tuchikura
“Vitality − Immersion” Miki Nagano
“Sunflower” Toshinori Nakaya
“Sunflower #1” Satoko Kano
“Sunflower #2” Satoko Kano
“Sunflower 5” Vassilina Dikidjieva
“Chorus of Cicadas/Sunflower” Yuji Yamada

NY Coo Gallery