A silk painting by Phan Cẩm Thượng. Photos courtesy of Muse Artspace

HCM CITY — A painting exhibition entitled Art is long, and time is fleeting will take place from March 23 to 31, 2024 at the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts.

Curated by art researcher Vân Vi, this exhibition will feature more than 100 pieces by Hà Nội-based artists including Phan Cẩm Thượng, Nguyễn Văn Trinh, Triệu Khắc Tiến, Vũ Văn Tịch, Nguyễn Quang Trung and Nguyễn Đình Sơn.

The exhibition spans six separate rooms, each dedicated to one artist. 

A lacquer painting by Triệu Khắc Tiến.

"In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, art and painting offer us a rest stop to slow down, refresh ourselves, and indulge in the fluctuation of our own feeling," said curator Vi. 

Thượng is a painter and also recognised as the most influential cultural researcher in the recent two decades as he has published 18 books diving deep into Vietnamese art and culture.

He brings to this exhibition his succession of silk paintings inspired by ancient Vietnamese culture. Notably, Thượng’s very first abstract paintings which have been in the making for years, will have their debut at this show.

Also on display is Nguyễn Văn Trinh’s series Biosphere, a showcase of the artist’s creativity in both concept and material (silk combined with giang paper).

A painting by Vũ Văn Tịch.

Trinh has created a floating multi-dimensional biosphere as a habitat for exotic creatures. The combination of silk and giang paper produces layered effects for his artworks. 

Painter Triệu Khắc Tiến and painter Vũ Văn Tịch are popular for their lacquer paintings. 

Tiến is currently the sole doctor in lacquer art in Việt Nam. He has been working with his students to standardise Việt Nam’s lacquer painting techniques for the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts, helping to expand the range of materials and ensure the durability of paintings on lacquer.

As a painter, Tiến meticulously and delicately crafts his art works, whose unmatched sophistication is hardly found elsewhere.

Tịch is Tiến’s student, finds it intriguing to capture the emotions and desires of a young man in paintings. Whilst Trung has been wholeheartedly keen on abstract art. He believes that what he has been doing is not meant to be discovering a new style, but digging into the abstract style in conformity with the contemporary flow.

Trung notably utilises the so-called “light confinement technique” to retain light in the painting amidst the interweaving of fluctuating brushstrokes and colours.

Sơn will introduce to art lovers his expressionist artworks that portray coastal and suburban life.

The closeups in Sơn’s paintings demonstrate moments of infatuation, sending his viewers a clear message that when they pay due attention, a small detail can open up a colorful, vibrant world which never ceases to trigger their emotions.

The exhibition runs until March 31 at 97A Phó Đức Chính Street, District 1. — VNS