KVT – Two Totally Awesome Treats

The weather may be hot, sweaty and oh so sticky, but not unpleasant enough to miss seeing two super-dooper, totally remarkable art shows on in town.

Japan has put together a superb travelling exhibition of the work of 11 of their best contemporary artists spanning the last two decades. It’s an exhibition to drool over. Beautifully mounted and what an eclectic collection! If any young artist, curator or art student omits it from their diary they’d have to be totally stupid or leaving art studies for accounting or business.

It takes the Japanese to beautifully understate the layout… no glitz just the gorgeous gloss of wonderfully resolved and thoughtful art work.

The very small but totally adequate exhibition guide is succinct and lacks useless hyperbole.

My favorite? It changes everytime I think about the works and the works have been so well chosen that they are all number ones.

It’s on at the Exhibition House, 29 Hang Bai until May 24. This is a lovely if under-utilized gallery and its tricky spaces have been used to their utmost by the canny curator

If you like art you’ll adore this exhibition.

Spain changed the proposed Jose Maria Cano exhibition that was opening a week ago and instead mounted a spectacular grouping of engravings by three world renowned artists spanning three centuries. All three were or are considered revolutionary by the art establishments of their day; all three played/play with the constructs of art and two changed the way art can be pervceived. All were/are involved in the portrayal of man’s inhumanity to man.

The exhibition at the Hanoi Fine Art Museum’s free entry space fabulously juxtapositions engravings by Goya, Picasso and Cano. The theme is the Spanish bullfight and whether you are a Hemmingway and passionately love death in the afternoon or a member of Spain’s up and coming anti bull fighting lobby, you’ll absolutely be enthralled by this atmospheric and beautifully hung show. The three artists show their fascination for the ceremony of the event rather than the controversy that surrounds it.

As much as I was anticipating the wax and text works of Cano, how can anyone not be thrilled to get a Special Treat like this… We are so lucky… Another one for wanna-be curators to grab onto.

It shouldn’t be missed… in most countries they’d be charging admission.