KVT – Exhibition at Viet Art Center
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Meowing With The Art Teachers
If you want to see some pretty good representational cats in this year of the cat then a good place to go until March 14 is The Viet Art Center in Yet Kieu. It’s a good, non commercial gallery that would be more appealing if the floors were washed occasionally.
But back to the cats! My favorite is the lucky one surrounded by fish, by Dao Nguyen Vu. Would love to own it!
I’ve been a fan of the colored woodcut prints of Vu Dinh Tuan ever since I saw his exotic ladies, en masse, a couple of years ago in the same gallery. Two of his cat prints are in the same colorful vein and are lots of fun.
This exhibition is called ‘Khai But’. Its blurb states that it marks the beginning of a new year of education, research and creation for the artists, who are also teachers at the adjacent Fine Arts University. Overall it’s a pretty staid and underwhelming presentation but that could be because it tries to cram in too many individual and disparate bits. Not that there aren’t glimmers of promise!
Perhaps most glimmering are the four photographs of Vina Trees by Nguyen The Son. The juxtaposition of real street trees with artificial cement ones topped with their tangled tendrils of electric wires is delightful. (the cement variety is facing gradual extinction so I hope that the city authorities allow a spaghetti span or two to remain as a picturesque reminder of what once was).
Whenever I catch sight of Le Thi Hien’s cerise metal sculptures they always make me catch my breath and the one smallish piece, seemingly carelessly scattered on the dusty floor, briefly did it to me again. Don’t know if it’s that marvelous color that is the culprit. I’ll have to photo-shop it in other acidic hues and see if the result is the same.
The small, smooth, wood and metal pieces by Khong Do Tuyen are very strokable as they purr on their plinths. It’d be interesting to know if these are models for later, big scale sculptures, or not.
Of all the conglomerations of teachers’ work that I’ve seen in the same gallery, this one could be the least inspirational. For us cats……probably not enough meat on the bones for a sustainable meal.
| Not a reviewer, not a critic, “Kiếm Văn Tìm” is an interested, impartial and informed observer and connoisseur of the Hanoi art scene who offers highly opinionated remarks and is part of the long and venerable tradition of anonymous correspondents. Please add your thoughts in the comment field below. |
Hi KVT,
Went to see the exhibition yesterday and I agree with your comments. As a huge cat fan I must say I was a bit disappointed with the cat images but I did like the woodcuts. I thought Nguyen Tay Son’s work was by far the best there but the sculpture was also outstanding. I, too, liked the pink-purple sculpture by Le Thi Hien…would love to see it on a much larger scale or maybe a whole series of them in a range of acidic colours. I also loved the wire sculpture that is barely visible in your final photograph. Just wish the whole exhibition was a bit more focused…maybe just sculpture or painting?