Japanese Sculptor Kunimasa Aoki Wins 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
His winning terracotta piece, “Realm of Living Things 19,” champions the ancestral and the innovative.
Summary
- The 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize has been awarded to Japanese sculptor Kunimasa Aoki for his terracotta work “Realm of Living Things 19,” which embodies the raw beauty and stillness of earth through ancestral and innovative techniques.
- In addition to the winning title, Aoki was awarded €50,000 EUR prize and have his work displayed at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid as a part of the annual Craft Prize exhibition, alongside the other 29 finalists.
Since its inception in 2016, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize has spotlighted artisanal excellence from around the globe. Founded by Jonathan Anderson, the prize was launched to reaffirm the Spanish house’s ardent devotion to craft, celebrating makers and artists that champion traditional and innovation in their respective mediums.
This year marks a transitional moment for the prize: the first edition following Anderson’s departure, with Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez set to lead the brand into its next chapter. On Thursday night at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, legendary filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar awarded this year’s top honor.
Taking home the €50,000 EUR prize is Japanese sculptor Kunimasa Aoki for his work “Realm of Living Things 19.” Chosen from more than 4,600 submissions across 133 countries, Aoki’s terracotta work stood out for its raw materiality and technical finesse. The jury praised the piece for its “honest expression of the ancestral coil process” and organic, unfinished beauty.
View this post on Instagram
“In this demonstration of innovative new building techniques, gravity, time and pressure are used to take clay to the limits of its material possibility,” Loewe remarked. Crafted in his signature material, Aoki’s winning sculpture is formed from meticulously stacked layers of clay, then coated with a decorative finish of soil, glue and pencil marks, evoking a sense of movement and life within earth’s stillness.
Based in Kawaguchi, Japan, Aoki studied sculpture at Musashino Art University in Tokyo and later went on to earn a postgraduate degree in art and design. Prior to this year’s competition, he also won the Gold Prize at the 9th Japan Art Center Sculpture Competition in Kobe.
Special mentions were also awarded to Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello for “TM Bench with Bowl,” and “Monument” by the Indian collective Studio Sumakshi Singh. All 30 shortlisted works, including “Realm of Living Things 19,” are now on view at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid through June 29 as a part of the Craft Prize exhibition.
Head to the Foundation’s website to learn more about this year’s works.
