Exhibition “I, Among Us”
09 am – 05 pm, Tues – Sun, 05 – 28 Dec 2025
QS Art Space by Quang San Art Museum
189B/3 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, An Khánh ward (old Thảo Điền), HCMC
From the organizer:
In an era where images operate as a dominant language, artist Dương Thùy Dương turns her gaze toward the fractures between human identity and the world of simulations we increasingly inhabit. “I & We” (I, Among Us) is her visual inquiry into a time when the self is formed and distorted simultaneously—shaped by filters, mass aesthetics, and the relentless flow of digital imagery that surrounds us.
The exhibition unfolds through a constellation of recurring symbols: the sheep, the flower, and the enigmatic figure of Agnes. Drawing from Roland Barthes’ concept of “mythologies,” these symbols become contemporary myths—containers of tension, irony, and the quiet anxieties of the postmodern condition. Here, meaning is not fixed; it flickers between spectacle and sincerity, imitation and authenticity.
In one segment of the show, dazzling digitized sheep appear as metaphors for consumption, conformity, and the surface-level beauty that structures much of visual culture today. Their bright colors and digitally rendered forms expose a world where identity often becomes a product—an image perpetually optimized and broadcasted.
Contrasting these scenes are blurred portraits and depictions of Agnes hiding her eyes behind flowers. These works confront viewers with the desire to reject illusion—to seek the “red pill” that shatters simulated realities and exposes the vulnerability of the self. They question how much of our identity is genuinely ours, and how much has been quietly shaped by invisible systems of control.
Dương Thùy Dương’s central question—“Can humans be replaced by technology?”—echoes throughout the exhibition. The Vietnamese title adds another layer: the subtle distinction between “we” and “us” evokes a meditation on belonging, exclusion, and the fragile boundary between human and machine in the digital age.
Between truth and fabrication, belonging and obedience, the exhibition creates a space for introspection. In this age of intermediated images, the search for the self is no longer a quest for purity but an awakening—a deliberate act of seeing, recognising, and continuously questioning.
