Galerie Quynh is pleased to present vis-à-vis – an exhibition featuring new and rarely seen works by Do Hoang Tuong, Tran Van Thao, Sandrine Llouquet, Hoang Duong Cam, Lien Truong, Nguyen Thanh Truc, Nadege David and Thien Do. Known for its tightly focused one- or twoperson exhibitions, the gallery is presenting its largest exhibition to date since olio. the year-end show. (2009). This unusual exhibition engages disparate practices in a complex dialogue, revealing the diversity of contemporary artistic currents in Vietnam. Vis-à-vis will become a biennial year-end exhibition featuring new works by the gallery artists.
Do Hoang Tuong will be presenting new paintings that continue his exploration of the solitary figure. Created in a somber palette, the pained, twisted figures allude to the frustrations of modern life, and of the alienation and helplessness that is commonly associated with urban living.
One of Vietnam’s most accomplished abstract painters, Tran Van Thao will exhibit two new series of paintings, ‘Old Town’ and ‘Shadows’. While Thao’s earlier works are sparser and more direct, with these recent paintings he displays an unmatched ability to comfortably move between styles and artistic methods. Using modest materials like canvas and board, the sophisticated compositions of ‘Old Town’ depict a landscape of intimate vignettes of the urban environment where the city’s frenetic pulse is halted temporarily. In ‘Shadows’, Thao creates warm and vibrant textures through the application of wide, sweeping brushstrokes. Through these techniques, impressions of dappled, fleeting presences are conveyed.
Sandrine Llouquet ponders the notion of transitional states of being in her new watercolour drawings and creates atmospheres that are both uncanny and fantastical. The indistinct landscapes and figures in her work can at first glance appear unfinished, themselves in transition from idea to an (in)coherent visual narrative. Yet Llouquet revels in the journey and the spaces that exist in between what is visible, and offers viewers an opportunity to discover for themselves the anomalous tales that surface in her work.
Nguyen Thanh Truc’s latest addition to his ‘Radio Station’ series consists of strips of paper taken from newsprint and magazines which are then methodically laid onto canvas in a gesture that refers to the powers at play in print media and in mass communication more broadly. By breaking down information in such a controlled manner, and rendering it indecipherable, Truc is asking viewers to consider notions of truth, knowledge, and power.
Hoang Duong Cam will be presenting a selection of ink and watercolour Do paper paintings from his 1998 series, ‘Dialogues’, which have never before been shown in Ho Chi Minh City. A special highlight of the exhibition, these unique figurative works convey the youthful playfulness and vibrancy of that period of the artist’s career, and of Hanoi’s fruitful art scene during the post-Doi Moi era more generally. Taking inspiration from Plato’s dialogues, Cam’s works were created in response to the artistic practices of his contemporaries and hence double as portraits/self-portraits, for they refer to the assumptions and perceptions that we make of ourselves and of those around us.
Lien Truong’s graphite and acrylic drawings on mylar examine the relationship between nature and society and the control that humans exert in the journey toward progress. The presence of light is integral to Lien’s work, highlighting nature’s struggle and perseverance.
Thien Do will be presenting work from his ‘Forbidden Grounds’ series, in which he constructs layered collages on canvas evoking the weathered, dilapidated walls that are so commonly seen in Vietnam. Stenciled with ‘Cam…Bay’ (forbidden/not permitted) signs, the works call into question the restrictions that order modern life.
Nadege David’s intricate ink and watercolour drawings at first glance appear delicate and playful, but in fact yield unsettling details to her mischievous figures. Meticulously drawn, the strange and devious characteristics to her work are achieved through an obsessive attention to line coupled with the unpredictability of ink.
