HCMC – The Traffic of Objects and Images, and Contemporary Nordic Lacquer Painting

03 – 12 Apr, 09 am – 09 pm daily
PI-CHANNEL shop
31B Le Thanh Ton
District 1, HCMC

Next at albb Open Studio, you can meet two artists who have done projects in various parts of Vietnam, Michael Bullock and Radoslaw Stypczynski, better known as Radek.

Like many artists working in Vietnam, history and time are important themes in Michael Bullock’s work.

During his time in the open studio, Michael will collect objects and images that represent Vietnam’s engagement with the outside world and will assemble these in a clumsy time-line. These objects, seemingly random in collection, will have their origins in countries such as France, China, Russia, America and Korea and will become the basis for simple and speedy artistic transformations such as replication, reproduction, dissection and reassembly. New hybrid forms may emerge as Michael works with a range of unconventional materials that he will source as he explores HCM City.

Visitors to the open studio are invited to give Michael a hand in assembling and making these new objects, or to just chat about the development of his ideas and work. Michael is looking forward to new friendships that will emerge from this program, in addition to catching up with old artist friends from his previous visits to Vietnam.

Radoslaw Stypczynski’s “Contemporary Nordic Lacquerpainting” originates from the traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting he learned as an exchange student in Hanoi. In contrast to traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting and its excess of gold, silver and mother of pearl, Radek uses inexpensive materials available in most hardware stores.

Participating in A window until the rains come: albb Open Studio Program, Radek is keen to introduce his way of working with lacquer, to meet people to get the hang of the southern dialect and not least, to scout the hardware districts of Saigon and Cholon for potential ‘gold’.

Please visit albb’s blog for more information on the program and participating artist, or follow this project on albb’s Facebook page.

a little blah blah (albb) is an artists’ initiative that since 2005 has operated as a platform for contemporary art through a wide range of channels including projects, exhibitions & events, screenings, talks, a residency program, internships and an open-access archive of art books & catalogues. Our program has evolved in a pioneering spirit, in response to the gaps and needs of the Saigon art scene. Since 2008 we have re-focussed our program to presenting one major project each year, capacity building and the ongoing running of albb Reading Room.