The connection between human beings and the world is featured in Đào Minh Tri's paintings, which are on display at the exhibition titled 'Ngược Dòng' (Rise Again) at the HCM City Fine Arts Association. Photo courtesy of the artist

HCM CITY – The HCM City Fine Arts Association is hosting an exhibition showcasing paintings by Đào Minh Tri, its former deputy general secretary, to mark his 50-year career.

The exhibition titled Ngược Dòng (Rise Again) includes 60 paintings in different materials such as colour powder, oil paint and lacquer, which are chosen from thousands of works created during his career.

Tri’s paintings reveal his inner mind and voice featuring a wide range of styles from abstract and expressionism to impressionism and surrealism.

On display works are colour powder paintings from 1970s and 1980s which are introduced to the public for the first time, depicting daily life such as a portrait of a boy, and cat and fish.

Veteran painter Ca Lê Thắng said despite being a longtime friend of Trí, he was still surprised at his paintings. His works were a diary of a sensitive soul carrying thoughts of life and feelings of people and society.

Meanwhile, Tri used Vietnamese traditional material lacquer to turn into his own art language, expressing the connection between human beings and the world, and among things and phenomena.

Tri, 73, graduated from the Việt Nam Fine Arts University in 1976.

In the early 1990s, he joined Nhóm 10 Người và Triển Lãm Tác Phẩm Mới (Group of Ten and New Works) in HCM City who contributed to the “renewal” of Vietnamese art.

He worked as an art lecturer at the HCM City University of Fine Arts.

He took participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Việt Nam and abroad.

In 2007, Tri had a serious illness, but still kept his passion for painting.

The Ngược Dòng exhibition marking his comeback will open until March 28 at 218A Pasteur Street in District 3. – VNS