Viet Art Forum - Noi Trao Doi Thong Tin My Thuat Viet Nam: A Snapshot of Contemporary Vietnamese Art

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.’’

Comments

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Good stuff as per usual, thanks. I do hope this kind of thing gets more exposure.

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