KVT – An Oldy but Goody

At least once a month I amble past the Exhibition House of Fine arts at 16 Ngo Quyen, just around the corner from Trang Tien and this month was a really worthwhile stop over.

ON LEVEL 2 there’s a really lovely exhibition running until after Tet. It’s a bit of a retrospective of a very respected Vietnamese artist’s output from the American War years to the present and is worth a look.

Do Hien was born in 1943 and after training at the Hanoi Fine Arts University he was a painter for the Hai Phong Opera Troupe. During the war he was a ground trooper and anti-aircraft gunner and documented the war in drawings and paintings. After the war he was a reporter for a military newspaper and a painter for Vietnam TV… I met him while he was labeling his work. He’s a friendly, energetic man and you hope that someone is making sure that the unofficial oral histories of people like him – and of his generation – are being recorded.

The exhibition’s title is Life’s Rhythm and the delightful, slightly fauvist, canvasses and lacquers are full of life and joy and movement. His dance party works make you want to start doing a passionate tango. His large streetscape makes you want to be in the middle of the scene.

It’s a pity that there aren’t three adjoining rooms, one for the rhythm series, one for the rather formal but lovely female portraits and associated drawings… and a final room for the rest.

It’s the rest that I found really fascinating. You start with an outstanding 1960’s war poster that indicates the artist’s love of fauvist tones and moves on to an oil of an anti-aircraft gun crew in action. This also is indicative of Ong Hien’s ability to portray immediacy and action.

I spent a lot of time with his drawings and sketches. They have a delicacy and simplicity that I like and they are, again, wonderfully vibrant and full of movement. I guess I liked them a lot because they show slices of life in places that are very evocative for me.

It’s a pity that the exhibition has to be so crowded on the walls but I recommend it as first rate viewing.

ON LEVEL ONE, or the ground floor, there’s a landscape exhibition by Nguyen Chi Phuc (1958). It’s a lovely grouping of work with the best already sold. Most conservative viewers will enjoy their painterly lushness and their sparse simplicity. It runs until the 7th or, more importantly, Lunar December 24, the day after we send Ong Tao, the Kitchen God on his journey to the Jade God.

LEVEL THREE should not be missed either as its here that a lot of previous exhibition pieces are stored and if you like oldish pottery and clever ceramics then its worth a good look. The lacquer bracelets at $10 are a steal.

PS: If you haven’t got Ong Tao and his two associates looking over your good deeds in the kitchen then you should certainly buy a paper grouping soon… perhaps a golden carp as well.