The Nam June Paik Art Center in Seoul has announced Japanese visual artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda as the winner of this year’s KRW 50 million (USD 36,400) Nam June Paik Prize. A formal award ceremony will take place at the Center on September 8.

Born in 1966 in Gifu, central Japan, and currently based between Paris and Kyoto, Ikeda is a pioneer of minimalist “glitch” art, whose works probe the aesthetic and sensorial potential of technology. His experimental installations and live performances often combine flashing lights, mathematical codes, and electronic soundscapes to explore questions about human perception and digital distortion. Ikeda’s work has been exhibited in several major institutions worldwide, including Paris’s Centre Pompidou, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. 

Established in 2009, the biennial Nam June Paik Prize is dedicated to late South Korean artist Nam June Paik, a leading figure in the Fluxus art movement who is celebrated as the “father of video art.” In a press release, jury member and director of Basel’s House of Electronic Arts Sabine Himmelsbach stated that Ikeda’s “practice of translating scientific and computational systems into profound aesthetic experiences extends Paik’s experimental legacy into the age of data and algorithmic culture.” 

As part of the prize, Ikeda will present a solo exhibition at the Center in 2027.

Harison Butler is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.