1972
born in Danang, Vietnam. Lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Khanh Cong Bui’s work addresses history and contemporary society in Vietnam and the impact that global capital is having upon it.  The blue-and-white porcelain vases that are both traditional and contemporary combine the dichotomy of the fast changing society of his country. Bui’s vases address what he calls ‘the character of the present’, the sounds and sights of daily life. Traditional forms interplay with symbols of quotidian life--flip flops and coca-cola cans are encased by classic Vietnamese ornamentation; Buddha and his own self portrait are just some of the images upon his complicated narratives that embellish the vessels. The red plastic chair finds its way onto many of his works and as he states, “In Vietnam, the red plastic chair is something you find at street cafes, outside people’s homes as they sit and relax, at some political meeting halls and public events. It is a common object in Vietnam. Light, cheap and easy to move. For me, the chair collectively represents a body of people, a way of thinking, an attitude. The chair is something sat on; it is a space for contemplation, productivity and decision-making. But what is the subject we are thinking? The figure that interrupts each ‘scene’ is me. I want to try and make people think that perhaps there is a different way of doing; perhaps there is a need to question why we are doing what we are doing. We all start with zero and try to make something from our ideas.” Indeed, deeply philosophical yet reactive to the world around him, Khanh Cong Bui is one of Vietnam’s most exciting young artists.