Gozo Yoshimasu has been awarded the inaugural Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize, a new biennial award providing £200,000 per recipient over ten years, totaling £1 million in artist support. The jury included Michelle Kuo, Venus Lau, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jonathan Rider, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Yoshimasu, born in Tokyo in 1939, is known for his interdisciplinary practice spanning poetry, performance, photography, and experimental moving image. As part of the prize, he will stage a solo exhibition at Serpentine North in autumn 2027, traveling to The FLAG Art Foundation in New York in spring 2028—his first major solo institutional presentations in Europe and the United States.
This prize matters because it is the UK's largest contemporary art award given to a single artist, designed to provide long-term support at pivotal career moments without institutional pressures. Yoshimasu, at 87, represents a radical living poet whose visual and interdisciplinary work remains less familiar to transatlantic audiences, making these exhibitions significant for introducing his practice to new global viewers. The award also strengthens cultural dialogue between London and New York, reflecting a commitment to connecting artists with international audiences.