The Japan Art Association proudly announces the recipients of the 15th PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE as follows:

Painting: BRIDGET RILEY
Sculpture:  MARIO MERZ
Architecture: REM KOOLHAAS
Music: CLAUDIO ABBADO
Theatre/film: KEN LOACH

The artists are recognized and awarded for their achievements, for the impact they have had internationally on the arts, and for their role in enriching the global community. The five recipients each receive 15 million yen(c. $125,000), and a diploma and medal presented by honorary patron of the Japan Art Association Prince Hitachi in an awards ceremony in Tokyo. The awards ceremony will be held on October 23rd, 2003.

The Praemium Imperiale is an annual award given by the Japan Art Association for global achievement in the arts. Since its beginnin in 1989, the award has become a mark of the highest international distinction. The 2003 laureates join a roster of 72 artists, including David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Jean-Claude, Anthony Caro, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Leonard Bernstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Ravi Shankar, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Peter Brook.

2003 PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE LAUREATES

Painting：BRIDGET RILEY

Bridget Riley is recognized and appreciated as an abstract optical painter, one of the finest exponents of Op Art, and her works have been described as visual analogues for states of mind, and even for pieces of music. She says that her inspiration came in large part from the French impressionists -their interest in perception, their own optics in nature and their idea of color and light -and Pointillism. She also credits the natural world she experienced as a child in Cornwell that made her visually aware and taught her the process and pleasure of observation. Her distinguished career encompasses forty years of uncompromising and remarkable innovation.

Sculpture：MARIO MERZ

Mario Merz, one of Italy’s leading contemporary artists, is mainly a self-taught artist. In the mid-sixties his experimentation led him to reject paint on canvas, and he explored non-traditional methods such as the use of ready-made objects, piercing the canvas with neon tubing, and using objects such as bottles, umbrellas, and raincoats. In 1967 he embarked on an association with several artists in what became a loosely defined art movement labeled Arte Povera that was marked by an anti-elitist aesthetic, incorporating humble materials drawn from everyday life and the organic world in protest of the dehumanizing aspects of industrialization and consumer capitalism. The work has had a profound effect on the art of today.

Architecture：REM KOOLHAAS

Rem Koolhaas, aside from being an artist and innovator in the vanguard of architectural practice, is a leading teacher, theorist and writer. His buildings, like his writings, examine and revise conventional solutions, and are full of remarkable, surprising as well as pragmatic answers. On closer look, what might seem provocative and radical can be seen to be extremely rational. Koolhaas' built works range from private residences to large scale urban planning. His Rotterdam based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is currently engaged in its largest project ever -the new headquarters for Central Chinese Television (CCTV) in Beijing to be completed in 2008.

Music：CLAUDIO ABBADO

Claudio Abbado has for more than 40 years enriched the musical and cultural life of the various cities where he has worked. His debut was in his native Milan at La Scala in 1960, and he studied piano at the Milan Conservatory, and conducting at the Vienna Academy of Music. He served as music director at La Scala, principal conductor and musical director of the London Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera and of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. His is also the founder and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, and his career is further distinguished by his dedication to the development of young talent.

Theatre/film：KEN LOACH

Ken Loach has been making films since the mid-1960’s, and his topics of choice remain the class system, poverty and the tribulations of the under-privileged. Although his subject matter is often hard and gritty, it is always imbued with sympathy and affection for his characters and their plight. He has made films about political violence in Northern Ireland("Hidden Agenda" 1990), Nicaragua ("Carla’s Song" 1996) and Civil War-era Spain ("Land and Freedom" 1995) as well as about social misery in London and Glasgow; about Los Angeles janitors ("Bread and Roses" 2000), and Yorkshire railway workers ("The Navigators" 2001).

ANNOUNCEMENT IN ROME
The main announcement took place with three of the new Praemium Imperiale laureates attending in the presence of Prince and Princess Hitachi who came to Rome for the event, at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. Mr. Umberto Agnelli hosted the event on behalf of the Japan Art Association. Mr. Agnelli serves, along with Raymond Barre, Edward Heath, William Luers, Yasuhiro Nakasone, and Richard von Weizsäcker, on an advisory panel to the Japan Art Association. Japan Art Association executives and advisors attended the Rome announcement.

GRANT FOR YOUNG ARTISTS
The Grant for Young Artists was awarded, on July 3rd during the Praemium Imperiale announcement, to the De Sono Associazione per la Musica. The association will receive 5 million yen(c.$41,000) to assist their efforts to help young musicians.

PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE ANNOUNCEMENT AROUND THE WORLD
Aside from attending the main announcement of the 2003 Praemium Imperiale in Rome, international advisors organized various events on July 2nd in celebration of the 15th Praemium Imperiale. Edward Heath invited press, laureates, and arts related persons to a formal dinner on the Thames for the London celebration of the 2003 announcement. Raymond Barre announced the 2003 laureates at a press luncheon in Paris, and in Berlin, Richard von Weizsäcker hosted a press breakfast. In Tokyo, Yasuhiro Nakasone held a press luncheon at the Japan National Press Club, and in New York a full-page advertisement in the New York Times announced the 2003 laureates.

For further information:
http//www.praemiumimperiale.org
The Japan Art Association, Tokyo
tel:(81 3) 5251 2245
fax(81 3) 5251 2247

Claudine Colin, Paris
ccc@claudinecolin.com
tel: (331) 4272 6001
fax:(331) 4272 5023

Sandie Barker, London
sba@dial.pipex.com
tel: (4420) 7586 4604
fax:(4420) 7722 8761

Astrid Lilja, Berlin
astrid.lilja@web.de
tel/fax:49 (0) 308932293

Francesca Martinotti, Rome
info@lagenzia.it
tel: (39 06) 8069 2424
fax: (39 06) 8066 9906

Lloyd Kaplan, NY
lkaplan@lakpr.com
tel: (1-212) 575 4545
fax: (1-212)575 0519