Exhibition “Doson”
Opening: 06 PM, Fri 05 June 2026
Exhibition: 09 AM – 05 PM, Tues – Sun 05 June – 05 July 2026
Quang San Art Museum
189B/3 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, An Khánh ward, HCMC
From the organizer:
Like many of his generation, Đỗ Sơn was deeply influenced by European art, particularly by masters who embraced immediacy and a sense of the primordial in their expression, such as Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh, and Marc Chagall. In shaping his distinct painterly voice, he returns to his cultural roots, the folk traditions of Kinh Bac (North Vietnam), the cradle of quan họ singing, Đông Hồ woodblock prints, and vernacular đình and pagoda architecture, as a foundation for his visual language.
Within Đỗ Sơn’s work lies an internal, generative impulse, rhythmic and organic, but also rigorously distilled. His practice reflects a deeper philosophical alignment with the spirit of Daoism, attuned to the vitality of nature and natural laws of the universe. This philosophy permeates his oeuvre, from an unmixed colour palette to a childlike simplicity informed by the textures of Vietnamese life and customs.
From lyrical naïveté to an apparent urgency and engagement with existential experience, from universal motifs to a growing autonomy of form that borders on abstraction, these explorations, especially since the 2000s, highlight an act of self-liberation and an ongoing pursuit of elemental emotion, consistent with primitive sensibilities.
Now at the age of 83, and no longer actively painting, this sixth solo exhibition offers a quiet resonance within a sustained journey spanning more than five decades, through which Đỗ Sơn’s work may continue to be revisited, felt, and reinterpreted in the present.
