KVT – Art Vietnam……The Second Decade
KVT ponders the future of Art Vietnam Gallery with owner Suzanne Lecht
I was overseas last summer when I read that Art Vietnam was closing the doors of its light and airy gallery in Nguyen Khac Nhu, just four years after it had first opened them in a blaze of evening October light to show the new work of one of my favorite Vietnamese artists, Nguyen Minh Thanh.
When the shockwaves about the closure started to decrease, images of memorable exhibitions I’d seen in Nguyen Khac Nhu passed through my mind like bouquets of flowers thrown on stage at the end of a triumphant opera season.
Thanks KVT – this is a nice piece. Like you, I was disappointed when I heard the Nguyen Khac Nhu gallery was closing – it’s a great building with it’s secret staircases and big airy rooms – but more so because it housed Viet Art’s excellent collections and exhibitions so well – they deserved a good setting. I particularly liked Simon Redington’s print folios and Ly Tran Quynh Giang’s wood blocks. Seeing your photographs of some of those works reminded me how lucky we were to have Viet Art. It would’ve been a shame if we’d lost it completely – so thank you Suzanne – I’m looking forward to any future exhibitions in the new setting.
Really enjoyed and appreciated this article – thank you.
Suzanne’s past and ongoing contribution to the development and increased international exposure of the Vietnamese contemporary art scene has been enormous – she is a treasure – as is her showcase home.
Andrew FitzGerald