Vernissage on Saturday 30 may 3-8pm
ifa gallery is pleased to present the works of the young generation of Vietnamese artists. These seven creators from Hanoi and Saigon open the first chapter of a series of Vietnamese exhibitions for 2009 with ‘‘A Snapshot of Vietnamese Contemporary Art’’.
Vietnamese contemporary art is little known, or altogether unknown in the world of art, despite its strength and credibility. With China having taken centre stage worldwide in recent years, unprecedented attention has been drawn to its artists and their gigantic, audacious and sometimes provocative works. Yet other countries also continue their exploration of and discovery within diverse artistic expression, perhaps in a more discrete matter but with just as much talent. Vietnam is one of these countries and it has taken its place in South East Asia these last fifteen years as an incubator of creativity and reflection on society.
Doi Moi, the political and economic renewal of 1986 made its mark on the cultural scene. Since, artists have shunned academicism and socialist realist propaganda, to experiment with different mediums and to interrogate their country and personalities.
‘‘A Snapshot of Vietnamese Contemporary Art’’ is a cross-section of this creation. Environmental problems, corruption, family, women, communism, childhood, or the place of the individual are the various issues that the artists deal with and express through installation, painting, video, sculpture and photography. Each of them describe and express in their own way the Vietnam of yesterday and today, their personal identity and that of its nation, in a country undergoing constant upheaval.
These artists deliver works full of power and poetry, a distinctive feature of Vietnamese contemporary art.
You can download the catalogue of the exhibition here: Download Catalogue- shanghai
ARTISTS
Nguyễn Quang Huy
Born
in 1971, Nguyen Quang Huy belongs to what was called the ‘‘triad of
Hanoi’’ together with Minh Thanh and Van Cuong, in one of the first
avant-garde movements, in the 1990s. Painting primarily in watercolour,
ink and oil, he has also recently moved into video and installation.
Quang Huy has a close relationship with women and he has paid various
tributes to his mother and mother figure. His birth in a pagoda may
explain his preoccupation with the concept of life and life cycles.
Nguyễn Minh Phước
Born
in 1973, Nguyen Minh Phuoc is both an artist and a curator concerned by
the condition of life of the Vietnamese people, the poverty and the
lack of social services. He is committed to producing ‘‘social art’’
and conducted several performances where migrants and peasants working
in the cities could express themselves and talk about their dreams.
Dragon
Dream is a huge installation about these disadvantaged people, with
stories that these people have encountered appearing in newspaper
clippings on the surrounding wallpaper.
Hoàng Dương Cầm
Born
in 1974 in Hanoi and now a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang Duong
Cam graduated in 1996 from the Hanoi Fine Art University. Using various
mediums, from photography to installation, through video and paintings,
he is largely preoccupied with contemporary Vietnamese society and its
changes. His ironic descriptions of humanity are expressed
predominantly through video. He questions the conscious and
unconscious, the connection between inside and outside, exploring the
question of space and his own relationship between environment and
society.
Phạm Ngọc Dương
Born in 1976, Pham Ngoc Duong is
also a graduate of the Fine Art School of Hanoi and has worked in both
France and Vietnam. A multidisciplinary artist, whose work spans video,
installation and performance he is now developing a new series of
compressed wooden sculptures. The Blue family series is a
representation of the traditional family in Vietnam.
Lê Huy Hoàng
Cambodian
Vietnamese Le Huy Hoang spent extended time in prison camp in Thailand,
where he first learnt about art and drawing. He now primarily paints
and creates installations with materials such as bamboo or sugar.
Hoang’s works reflect the impact of communism and nationalism in his
country, yet they also have personal aspects, with his father and
daughter as well as elements of Buddhism also appearing.
Richard Streitmatter-Trần
Living
and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Richard Streitmatter-Tran received his
degree in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) at the Massachusetts
College of Art in Boston. His solo and collaborative work has been
exhibited internationally including the Singapore Biennale, Eslite
Gallery in Taiwan, 52nd Venice Biennale and more. He is currently
lecturer at RMIT Vietnam and has been published widely as an arts
writer. He continues to work at establishing networks between creators
from around the globe to promote and present contemporary art in
Vietnam.
Nguyễn Anh Tuấn
Nguyen Anh Tuan, trained in graphic
design and with a degree in Fine Arts, is very versatile in terms of
the mediums that he works in: oil painting, installation, video art,
conceptual art and performance art. He says, his ‘‘works are the
mixture of imagination and the truth of deep thought… like the
borderline between reality and dreams.’’
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