Exhibition “Destination I”

Notoriously difficult to put together and organize, group shows like “Destination I” are doing a favor to the arts community and the broader Vietnamese and international public by bringing the works of two Malaysian and five Vietnamese contemporary artists in one physical space, letting us to explore their respective artistic concerns, styles, sensibilities. By way of comparison it offers us an opportunity to see this artists’ creative efforts in broader international context.
The two featured guest artists from Malaysia show dramatically different artistic preoccupations.
Yousof Ghany’s “The Force #1” and “The Force #2” stylistically relate and are evoking the spirit of abstract expressionism: the grand gesture of using paint freely and spontaneously, simultaneously directing it to obey the artist’s intent… the need to express the origin of the creative drive, an unknown, indeterminable, primordial dimension, which, as it were, is yet to be defined and given form.
In spite of the implied movement of matter, this work left a feeling of cool detachment and a sense of intellectualized passions… of the immeasurably vast possibilities of the abstract.
In contrast, the paintings of Zaim bin Durulaman bring the warmth of intimacy in conveying his and his country’s romanticism. The combined collage, stenciled imagery and realistically drawn figuration are used in creating the layers of each work on the theme of fishermen’s life. There is a sweet sentiment of tradition accentuated by the hardness of the main theme coming across as gentle and unassuming sensibility — thus the folkloric impression of this paintings is complete.
The great strength of tradition is on view in the works of two Vietnamese artists who use lacquer technique as a tool of their expression. In her two imposing “Say I / Passion I” and “Say II / Passion II” paintings, Ngo Hai Yen shows a sense for drama and brilliant color abilities, bit in that she almost succeeds in drowning her subject in the visual satisfaction with the technique, which is a default condition of any technique per se — something to be eventually overcome by the mastery of the artist.
Vu Hoa also uses lacquer in his series titled “Abstract” (with the exception of one painted in acrylics) for its supreme elegance to refine a sophisticated aesthetic statement of modernity through a connection to traditional art form.
Also on show are mixed media works by Nguyen Than, titled “The Woman Behind the Window” juxtaposing the female form with a grid cutting across the shape of a torso. This works are somewhat clumsy and stylistically rough but carry some poetic allusions and lyricism.
Two other Vietnamese artists present their different visual expressions as reflections and comments on contemporary issues of the society they observe. Lu’i Thanh Tuyen Sinh shows two paintings in oil on the subject of alienation and Ngo Van Sac exhibits two large paintings of patterned forms stenciled in a rather decorative way across the entire surface of the canvas. The third work called “Midday Dream” — a combination of woodcut and collage is illustrative and self explanatory in its depiction and treatment of the subject.
For me the main drawback of the show is the un-evenness in the levels of artistic attainment of the participating artists.
That said, one is left with the desire to see more of their work and to better understand their respective artistic expressions… and from this perspective the exhibition succeeded in its aim.