The Grapevine Selection Presents Artist Nguyen Huy An
Nguyen Huy An was born in 1982 in Hanoi, Vietnam and in 2008 he graduated from Vietnam University of Fine Arts.
Nguyen Huy An is described as “a very vulnerable, humble, quiet person” and one of the “strongest artists of his generation” by Nha San Collective. His personality is reflected in his work. He is probably best known in Hanoi as a performance artist. His performances are quiet, intense, sometimes gruelling, they challenge audiences and can be powerful and memorable. He has appeared, either solo or with the performance art group Phu Luc (Appendix) – which he co-founded in 2010 – in performance art festivals in Vietnam, Japan and Singapore and in important exhibitions such as LIMDIM in Oslo, Norway, Sounds Of Dust in 943 Studio Kunming, China and the unprecedented multi-disciplinary exhibition ‘Skylines with Flying People’ in Hanoi in 2012. An installation by Ngyen Huy An is included in this year’s Singapore Biennial.
Less well-known are Nguyen Huy An’s visual art works on Vietnamese dó paper or silk. These works – quiet, introspective, humble, simple and strong – resonate with his other work. We are pleased to present this work in The Grapevine Selection – the first time that his paintings have ever been displayed publicly.
About the paintings to be exhibited, An said:
The inspiration for this series, which I began in 2004, is the pond and the floating water pavilion in front of my house. Initially, I painted specific objects realistically but gradually, as time has passed, they have become simplified, fixed, closed and non-literal objects. They seem to be isolated and separated from the outside world. In this regard, I was influenced by Buddha statues in the north of Vietnam. The paintings do not have much variation, they seem to repeat forms and each reflects a small transformation of emotion.
Words by Friederike Krentz and Brian Ring.
