World’s Best Sculptors Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: DAMBO, JOBS, ARMEANU ROSIN, GRIGGS, KAWANO, YANG, CHIKUMBIRIKE, WANG, LASTOVJAK, LEE, KUENG, VAN LOENEN, SALAJAN, YU & CHEN / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

6 min readOct 4, 2021

Each May the American Art Awards organization selects the 25 Best Galleries and Museums in America, then in autumn these revered art institutions vote on online art to decide the world’s best contemporary artists.

The 25 Best GALLERIES + MUSEUMS In America, 2021 — American Art AwardsAmerican Art Awards

The AAA board chooses only one gallery or museum per state per year. Among other criteria, selections are based on…

www.americanartawards.com

America’s Best Galleries & Museums scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 64 countries.

Winners in Category 49 are from DENMARK, SPAIN, ROMANIA, USA, JAPAN, CHINA, ZIMBABWE, POLAND & TAIWAN.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Thomas Dambo is considered the world’s leading recycle artist, and is famous for his various art installations around the world, most notably his recycled troll sculptures.

Thomas’ vision is to create art that inspires people to go explore and have adventures in nature while showing people that trash can be turned into something beautiful.

His work has reached millions of people through photos, videos and stories shared online, and through international media sources such as BBC, National Geographic, NPR, The Huffington Post, ABC, Lonely Planet, Treehugger, El País, Reforma and many more. Mama Mimi was generously commissioned by Jackson Hole Public Art.

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 49. SCULPTURE — REPRESENTATIONAL

1st Place THOMAS DAMBO DENMARK www.thomasdambo.com “Mama Mimi” 31x29x19' Screws, reclaimed pallets, and driftwood roots from the Snake River.

2nd Place CRISTINA JOBS SPAIN https://www.cristinajobs.com/ 172x48x75cm “The Strength” Hyperrealistic silicone sculpture.

3rd Place-Tie MIHAI ARMEANU ROSIN ROMANIA mihaiarmeanu@yahoo.com “The Lone Prince” 120x70cm Recycled materials.

3rd Place-Tie JAKE GRIGGS USA www.griggssculpting.com “Divine Covenant” 14x10x8” Bronze.

3rd Place-Tie RYUZO KAWANO JAPAN www.ryuzo3.net seikaeru@gmail.com “Lucky Boy” 86x39x25.5" FRP(vacuum plated).

4th Place-Tie DONG YANG CHINA bettyshi2016@163.com
“Blade” 82x60x20cm Plascine base for bronze.

4th Place-Tie EMMANUEL CHIKUMBIRIKE ZIMBABWE emmanuelchikumbirike@gmail.com
“Tonga Gentleman” 55x46x44cm Stone.

4th Place-Tie SHUAI WANG CHINA 598632665@qq.com
“Angel In The World” 120x10x110cm Resin sculpture.

4th Place-Tie GAYA LASTOVJAK POLAND https://artmo.com/user/gayalastovjak/ “Lust” 130x100x13cm 3-dimentional painting, paper-mache, canvas, oil.

5th Place-Tie LAURA LEE TAIWAN laura0076@icloud.com
“The Alpha Wolf” 27.2x39.4x1.3cm Paper and white glue.

5th Place-Tie CHRISTIAN KUENG USA christiankueng6@gmail.com
“When Piet Met Jeff” 9x12x15” Papier-mâché.

5th Place-Tie TERRY VAN LOENEN USA www.sculpturedwildlife.com “Mother Nature” 23x10x9” Bronze.

6th Place-Tie IOAN C. SALAJAN ROMANIA csljan@yahoo.com
“Cinderella’s Shoes” 50x50cm Embossed aluminium.

6th Place-Tie FEITONG YU CHINA lisayu040630@gmail.com
“Hurtful” 30x60cm Wax.

6th Place-Tie NAIHUI CHEN CHINA 386043787@qq.com
“Reborn From Fire” 57x20.4x60cm Metal. sculpture, 2021

Click below to see the relaxing hour-long movie revealing 2021’s hundreds of winning artworks:

Artworks from 59 countries won among the 50 categories: paintings, drawings, photography, digital and sculpture. (Americans won more because Americans entered more since the competition is better known here.)

Number of winners per country: Argentina 1, Australia 12, Belarus 2, Belgium 2, Brazil 3, Bulgaria 2, Canada 30, China 85, Croatia 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, England 2, Finland 1, France 7, Georgia 3, Germany 18, Ghana 1, Greece 3, Hungary 2, Japan 1, India 10, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 14, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Latvia 6, Lithuania 27, Macedonia 5, Malaysia 2, Mexico 2, Moldova 1, Morocco 1, Netherlands 3, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 8, Norway 1, Oman 1, Pakistan 1, Philippines 5, Poland 8, Republic Of Korea 12, Romania 2, Russia 45, Serbia 1, South Africa 8, Spain 11, Sweden 3, Taiwan 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 3, Uganda 1, UK 10, Ukraine 5, USA 264, Uzbekistan 1, Zambia 1, Zimbabwe 2.