Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa has received the Richard Mille Art Prize, awarded by the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Richard Mille. The announcement followed his selection from shortlisted participants in the “Art Here” 2025 exhibition. As part of the award, Kurokawa received a $60,000 prize during a ceremony held this week in Nikko, Japan.
Artistic Focus
Kurokawa’s winning work, skadw-, presents an immersive installation that transforms shadows through light, sound, and drifting fog. Rather than treating shadow as a secondary effect, the work uses a narrow beam of light moving through mist to generate patterns that appear and dissolve. In doing so, the installation directly responds to the 2025 theme, “Shadows.” According to organizers, the artist approached shadow not as a byproduct of light “but as a substance that shapes how we sense space.”
Commenting on the work, Tilly Harrison, managing director Richard Mille Middle East, said, “Ryoichi Kurokawa’s ‘skadw-’ presents a nuanced response to this year’s theme. His approach, shaped by traditions from Japan and connected to a wider audience, speaks to the cross-cultural exchange at the core of the Richard Mille Art Prize.”
Context and Jury
Kurokawa was born in Osaka in 1978 and now lives and works in Berlin. Meanwhile, a five-member jury selected the winner, bringing together figures from museum leadership, curatorial practice, and global art institutions. The panel included Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan; Guilhem Andre of Louvre Abu Dhabi; Maya Allison of New York University Abu Dhabi; Sophie Mayuko Arni of Global Art Daily; and Yuko Hasegawa of Kyoto University. Together, the jury underscored the prize’s focus on international dialogue and contemporary artistic practice.