In 1997 Jukyu won the Versilia Award “International Grand Prize” for his marble sculpture “Circle Wind PAX2000”.
He had a dream to dedicate his awarded sculpture to Vatican to appeal his wish for the World Peace in the very special year 2000 – the Great Jubilee for Catholic ( New Millennium). Fortunately his dream was realized.
There must be many other dedication offers from Italian artists but his sculpture was
selected and permanently installed in the Pope’s summer Villa located in the suburbs west from Rome - a famous summer resort, Castelgandolfo.
It was the very first time for a Japanese to have such an honor and it was also the very first time that such an abstract sculpture was accepted as a dedication gift to the Pope.
His name immediately became very famous. In 2002 his painting “Birth of the Ray”-one of his painting series called “Wall of Recollection” was permanently installed in the UNESCO HQ in Paris.
In 2003, “Circle Wind PAX2000” was also installed in Pietrasanta – a city in Italy which is well-known as an original home of marble stone and a world famous city as “a sculpture town”. Another “Circle Wind Pax2000” was installed in Antwerpen,
Belgium – well known as a culture city. |
