Craig Thomas Gallery is pleased to present Hands, a solo exhibition of works by Hanoi-based artist Pham Huy Thong. The show will open on Saturday 20 October 2012 and will run through 13 November.

“Pham Huy Thong is a visual artist from Vietnam whose art focuses on political and social commentary.” This description in his own words in fact says a great deal about Thong the artist and the exciting novelty of the work that he is doing in the less than unrestricted context in which he operates. Thong was born in 1981 to journalist parents who often hosted gatherings that included freewheeling discussions of the social and political issues of the day. The artist cites exposure from an early age to this open style of discourse as a paramount factor in his own decision to engage with social and political issues in his art.

Thong’s decision to replace the faces of his subjects in his latest series with hands was driven in part by a desire to make them universal, anonymous beings without individuality or nationality. Another reason was Thong’s conception of hands as uniquely expressive appendages with the capacity to express a range of emotions – anger, power, fear, happiness – and meaning through the symbols and gestures they can be used to form.

One issue that animates Thong and which appears in several of the Hands paintings, is the current dispute between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors over island territories in the South China Sea. His aim is to express his empathy for the innocent individuals who are not parties to the dispute, but who are the first to pay the price for the aggressive posturing being undertaken by the nations involved.

Thong demonstrates the breadth of his interest and intellect by taking on issues of globalization, Westernization, consumerism and development aid, among others, in the meticulously conceived and created works of Hands. In Money-Go-Round, a large bird hand feeds cash to hungry little outstretched baby hands arrayed around a nest. Thong is addressing the mixed blessing of development aid where money is ostensibly given to a country only to see the majority of it pass back to the donor country with questionable ultimate benefit to the recipient nation.

A Hanoi native and resident, Thong speaks admiringly of the artist Le Quang Ha who pioneered the idea in Vietnam of using his art to impart important messages in the generation before Thong. He also speaks of the influence that contemporary Chinese artists – most prominently Cynical Realist artist Yue Minjun – have had on his work.

Thong’s paintings are rife with symbolism and his multi-layered messages are not immediately discernible. Much is left to the engaged viewer to analyze and understand for himself. Thong is commenting on events and informing while also challenging the viewer to question the status quo.

Pham Huy Thong has exhibited extensively at home and abroad. His works are collected by important contemporary art collections such as the Witness Collection of Modern and Contemporary Vietnamese Art and the Rimbun Dahan Collection in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.