VIETNAM NOW! - June 2 - 19, 2011

Nguyen Kim Quang, Dinh Thi Tham Poong, Ha Tri Hieu, Vu Thu Hien, Hoang Phuong Vy
 


Opening Reception, Thursday, June 2nd, 6-9 PM


Artist Nguyen Kim Quang will be in attendance

For more information please go to: www.theeastgallery.com

As in China, art in Vietnam has undergone dramatic changes since it threw off the shackles of Socialist Realism in the late 1980’s. With fewer restrictions on creativity and growing exposure to international art trends, Vietnamese artists have become increasingly experimental in developing their own unique style while at the same time continuing to incorporate Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage in their work.

Today, the country’s art scene is thriving with art works being exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. Torontonians will have an unprecedented opportunity to see a cross-section of contemporary Vietnamese art by five of the country’s leading artists.

Ha Tri Hieu

As a member of Hanoi’s ‘Gang of Five’, the first group of young artists to gain international renown after Vietnam opened up in the late 1980s, Ha Tri Hieu is one of the founding fathers of Vietnamese contemporary art. The subject of much of Ha Tri Hieu’s poetic, expressionist work is the beauty and simplicity of rural life. Born in the capital Hanoi in 1959, Hieu was deeply influenced by the years he spent as a child in the countryside where his family sought refuge during the Vietnam War

Nguyen Kim Quang

Hanoi native Nguyen Kim Quang (born 1958) is one of Vietnam’s leading lacquer artists. Painting with lacquer was first introduced by the Chinese for decorative handicraft purposes centuries ago but has developed into a uniquely Vietnamese art form in the last 100 years. Unlike most conventional lacquer art, Kim Quang’s work is abstract and minimalist. His art is full of symbolic messages that are often anchored in his Buddhist beliefs.

Dinh Thi Tham Poong

One of Vietnam’s most successful female artists, Dinh Thi Tham Poong’s work reflects her Tai and Muong ethnic roots and her childhood growing up in a mountainous region on the border with China. Her intricate, vivid and often surreal paintings depict the close interrelationship between humans and nature.

Vu Thu Hien

Vu Thu Hien’s watercolours are delicate, dreamlike, and at times haunting. Many of her paintings refer to the soul, to spirits and to the afterlife. Her traditionally clothed figures are mysterious and real at the same time and are often embodiments of the spirits that coexist with and influence human lives.

Hoang Phuong Vy

Hoang Phuong Vy’s boldly coloured, minimalist oil paintings are reminiscent of Vietnamese folk art and depict scenes of traditional, everyday life – a market scene, for example, or a beautiful spring day.

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