KVT – Color my face with gladness

Cuong’s Smile at Art Vietnam is an infectious and colorful exhibition. The canvasses and assemblages exhibited are from 2006 to 2010 and the latest ones really appeal.

The four section 2010 self portrait (already sold) is perhaps the most telling work on display as it features the artist in four moods and behind a barred barrier and none are smiling or grinning. Scattered throughout the exhibition are other dour or shy self portraits that belie the belly laughs that roar silently throughout the gallery spaces.

Artist Nguyen Nghia Cuong knows all about the psychology of smiles and the way they mask true feelings and identities. He seems to tell us that beneath the toothsome veneer of so much jollity there is a more somber reality. As I wandered the works I found myself humming the rather fatuous song made famous by Nat King Cole:

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

And later I was remembering the well worn adages about smiles and laughter:

Smile and the world smiles with you… A smile a day keeps the doctor away…

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects… Laughter is the best medicine… etc etc etc…

All of those offhand pieces of advice that make you want to vomit all over the pollyannas who deliver them when you need them least.

I was put in mind of the Vietnamese waiter in a restaurant I dined in recently who was on the receiving end of an undeserved tirade from a large, angry and red faced westerner. The louder the yells the larger grew the grin of bewilderment on the waiter’s face and the angrier became the fat man who believed he was being laughed at and made fun of.

I love the social comment canvasses that sprinkle the three levels. ‘Marilyn Monroe in Vietnam’, for instance, is loaded with nuances and ‘The Red Boat’ is such a sad vessel to be packed with so much jollity

It’s a lovely exhibition. You’ll laugh along with a lot of it, be exhilarated with a lot of it, and think deeply about loads of it. Like me, you may even be infuriated with a little of it.

As I said, Cuong’s colorful smiles are infectious and well worth the risk of taking in. I hope that my rambles about his intentions aren’t too far off the mark but if they are then he’ll be able to add another wide smile to his collection