Toshio Iwai
PROFILE
Toshio Iwai
Children's book Author and Illustrator / Media artist
Toshio Iwai was born in Aichi prefecture, Japan, in 1962. Iwai started his career making flipbooks in his childfood and began making experimental animations in 1981, moved on to working with pre-cinematic toys such as flipbooks and zoetropes, and his interests then shifted to art produced on computers. In 1985, while Iwai was still a student, his installation "Time Stratum" won the High Technology Art Exhibition Gold prize. He also won the grand prize at the 17th annual Modern Japanese Art Awards, becoming the youngest artist ever to win the award. In 1987, following the completion of his work at Tsukuba University's Plastic Art and Mixed Media master's course, he went on to exhibit his interactive art at shows both in Japan and overseas, winning wide acclaim. In 1991-92, he was based at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In 1994-95, he was a visiting artist at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, where his work included a major one-man show. In 1990s, Iwai had been particularly interested in the relationship of sound and image. One major result of this interest was the performance in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto. This performance won the Golden Nica of the Interactive Art Division at the 1997 Prix Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Iwai is a multitalented creator whose works also include the creation of characters and computer graphic designs for Fuji Televisions, "Einstein TV" and "Ugo Ugo Lhuga" TV programs, as well as computer game software such as "Otocky", "Simtunes" and "Electroplankton". He has also co-developed an electronic musical instrument "TENORI-ON" with YAMAHA Corporation. On the other hand, he has branched into non-computer creations, such as handmade toys, and picture books for children.
Toshio Iwai was born in Aichi prefecture, Japan, in 1962. Iwai started his career making flipbooks in his childfood and began making experimental animations in 1981, moved on to working with pre-cinematic toys such as flipbooks and zoetropes, and his interests then shifted to art produced on computers. In 1985, while Iwai was still a student, his installation "Time Stratum" won the High Technology Art Exhibition Gold prize. He also won the grand prize at the 17th annual Modern Japanese Art Awards, becoming the youngest artist ever to win the award. In 1987, following the completion of his work at Tsukuba University's Plastic Art and Mixed Media master's course, he went on to exhibit his interactive art at shows both in Japan and overseas, winning wide acclaim. In 1991-92, he was based at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In 1994-95, he was a visiting artist at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, where his work included a major one-man show. In 1990s, Iwai had been particularly interested in the relationship of sound and image. One major result of this interest was the performance in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto. This performance won the Golden Nica of the Interactive Art Division at the 1997 Prix Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Iwai is a multitalented creator whose works also include the creation of characters and computer graphic designs for Fuji Televisions, "Einstein TV" and "Ugo Ugo Lhuga" TV programs, as well as computer game software such as "Otocky", "Simtunes" and "Electroplankton". He has also co-developed an electronic musical instrument "TENORI-ON" with YAMAHA Corporation. On the other hand, he has branched into non-computer creations, such as handmade toys, and picture books for children.
