‘Vong’ (Echo) by Vo Xuan Huy opens tomorrow at Cactus Contemporary Art Gallery and features 20 lacquer pieces depicting vestiges of cultural heritages, war and environment that illustrates the artists’ passions.
Vo Xuan Huy revolutionizes lacquer at new show
By My Tran in HCMC
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| A visitor walks past the lacquer paintings of artist Vo Xuan Huy at Cactus Contemporary Art Gallery in Binh Thanh District - Photo: My Tran |
‘Vong’ (Echo) by Vo Xuan Huy opens tomorrow at Cactus Contemporary Art Gallery and features 20 lacquer pieces depicting vestiges of cultural heritages, war and environment that illustrates the artists’ passions.
Vestiges appear when Huy combines old characters, ancient cultural features, images of guns and bullets and industrial litter into embossed images. Unlike the traditional method of making lacquer, Huy makes his works unique due to the surface of the paintings which are chapped, rough and wrinkled. Moreover, the harmony of colors with main tones of grey green, dark blue, red and brown together with the index of shiny and studded with blurred spaces bring much curiosity and imagination to visitors.
“I have found that the artist doesn’t start from a finished surface of lacquer to use as an available word of expression, instead he originates it from an internal bidding process of material. The characteristics of technique and material such as creating debris, crush, rubbing and covering that are tamed and used actively for appearing directly and instantly are creative inspiration,” said art critic Nguyen Quan.
In traditional motif, people often use golden beauty, warm and gracefulness or ancient lacquer to present the spirit of a folk festival, but Huy uses the color expanded with light, cold pigment and vague fugitive. “I have found effects of substance, color, figure, stroke with unexpected and rare space in lacquer and we can see Huy’s lacquer can present many emotional tones and creations which people could express themselves freely,” Quan added.
With this show, Huy hopes to modernize the tradition in lacquer and bring a new style to Vietnamese art.
The show runs until August 11 at the gallery, 17/12 Nguyen Huy Tuong Street in Binh Thanh District.