KVT – The Peaceful Quotient in Still Lifes

KVT with Vu and Vang at Mai in Hang Bong

If you’re having one of THOSE days in the old town and suddenly feel like yelling obscenities at drivers who honk their horns incessantly; you’re a bit fed up with being almost run over when you try to cross a street; the never ending noise is sending you bonkers- In other words you’ve got the fed up to the back teeth with the inner city charms of Hanoi blues– Thus a nice oasis of peace and quiet to head for is level 3 of The Mai Gallery at 113 Hang Bong. It’s so quiet you could imagine that you’re wearing the best and most comfortable ear plugs ever invented

The long gallery on level 3 has just about the most peaceful exhibition you’ll come across in the city and those people who find solace in interior still life paintings will likely be entranced

Two established artists have ganged together and co-exhibited small to medium size, non fussy pictures that ping off each other very nicely

Dinh Quoc Vu has painted his in oil on canvas and a lot of people will really be entranced by his long, skinny still lifes that are full of airy light and dust moted movement that at times stops you in your tracks to investigate if the artist has used a pointillism technique

Vu is able to paint ruffled fabric so beautifully that even the most Hanoi noise shocked viewers will be impressed

In his smaller oils his fabrics resemble sleek and shiny satin and his objects are photo real

When you put your nose close to the artist’s canvasses you realize how sparsely the paint is spread so that the tooth of the canvas whispers back at you

Viewers familiar with the usually expressive, colorful oils and acrylics of Hoang Duy Vang could be stopped in their tracks by his muted watercolors on paper a couple of which sing out rich and lusciously ripe

In contrast to soft or sleek fabrics of Dinh Quoc Vu, Vang’s are geometrically austere and sharply folded

Sometimes Vang’s objects float a little surreally above their ground and shadows making your eyes do a double take

Vang’s works can lull you with their soft vibrancy and suddenly startle you with a surge of color

Not all the pieces come off successfully for either artist and for Vang the watercolor I liked least was this:

In 2008 I saw an exhibition by Dinh Quoc Vu again at Mai and was really impressed with his lyrical oils. Unfortunately in those far off days I didn’t have a digital to take loads of images and thus my opinion pieces were text rather than the present photo laden type.

About a group exhibition at the Art Museum in 2009 I wrote about Vu that: His sparse yet eloquent canvasses are gentle, figurative snapshots about the ordinary and everyday in ordinary and rural Vietnamese lives. They are lovingly rendered and are almost translucent with honesty. ‘Two Peoples Meal’ is a poignant example from a very strong grouping of his recent work.

Hoang Duy Vang has also been on my radar since about 2008 and he’s never been an artist to stand still and vegetate too long in one style. I’ve watched his work experiment and change from waterlillies…..

…..to faces of friends

…..to large and expressive and wonderfully colored abstract landscapes

…..with occasional adventures into adventurous lacquered eggs and other things along the way