Young artist Hoàng Nhật Quang. — Photo danviet.vn

HCM CITY — At just 13 years old, Hoàng Nhật Quang, an ethnic Tày boy from Lạng Sơn, continues to dazzle the Vietnamese art world. After receiving the 2023 Dế Mèn Children's Award for his evocative paintings, Quang is returning with his second solo exhibition titled Những linh hồn ẩn giấu 2 (Hidden Souls 2), opening June 27 at Huyen Art House in HCM City.

The show features around 60 large-scale works created over two years — a period of quiet growth for this prodigious young artist. To painter Ngô Đồng, Quang remains a phenomenon: “His paintings are rare and strange, hard to explain and perhaps should not be explained at all. He is here, real, and so are his paintings — beautiful to the point of bewilderment.”

The teenage threshold

“Thiên sứ hạ phàm” (Heavenly Angel Descending), acrylic on canvas, 220 x 305cm, 2025. — Photos thethaovanhoa.vn

"Is Hoàng Nhật Quang still painting?" might sound like an odd question to some, but it carries weight. Born in 2012, Quang has just turned 13 — an age where many lose touch with early passions. His mother shared on social media: "My wish for Quang at 13 is simple: that he stays happy and joyful."

This hope is far from guaranteed. Adolescence often redirects interests and dims former sparks. Yet Hidden Souls 2 shows that Quang remains deeply connected to his artistic world — still conversing and playing with the mysterious souls he imagines. His new works are more structured, more pensive. The evolution in composition and colour mastery suggests maturity in both thought and storytelling.

Quang is standing at a threshold. These small but meaningful shifts could define whether he becomes a lifelong artist or leaves this visual journey behind.

Twelve signs, countless stories 

“Ánh mắt dòng sông” (The River’s Gaze), acrylic on canvas, 155 x 240cm, 2025.

In this new collection, Quang expands beyond previous themes with a fresh focus on the twelve animals of the Vietnamese zodiac. His interpretation is bold and imaginative. Each of the twelve địa chi (earthly branches) is recognisable, yet rendered with a manga-like dynamism, reminiscent of Detective Conan comics — a favourite of his.

Some canvases play with form, assembled like Lego puzzles. These jagged formats create visual and narrative space, rejecting standard rectangular limitations. Each fragment tells a piece of the story, hinting that the tale will continue elsewhere, at another time.

“Người chim” (The Birdman), acrylic on canvas, 155 x 240cm, 2025.

Over the past two years, outside school, playtime and reading detective manga, Quang has produced around 70 works, many of them in grand scale: 120x150cm, 160x200cm, even up to 180x360cm. His prolific output, coupled with subtle growth in technique and expression, makes his future as a true painter seem not only possible, but likely.

An instinctive worldbuilder 

“Khi mặt trời buồn” (When the Sun Is Sad), acrylic on canvas, 190 x 240cm, 2023.

Quang still holds fast to a belief from early childhood: every creature has a soul, and even within each living thing, every small part has its own voice.

Painter Lương Xuân Đoàn, Chairman of the Việt Nam Fine Arts Association, remarked: "Quang's paintings are otherworldly — abstract and surreal, almost impossible to explain. His use of visual language is entirely intuitive, unplanned. What he creates is an art space that regular people simply cannot see."

Đoàn continued: "Why can he 'read' hidden souls? I believe part of the answer lies in his spiritual upbringing in the mountainous north. Surrounded by sacred shrines, spirit paintings and the mystery of old temples, Quang has absorbed a cultural atmosphere rich in symbolism. Perhaps he's been gifted the whispers of ancestors. This kind of spiritual sensitivity is not something we can teach or define."

For viewers and critics alike, the best approach may be to let his work speak for itself. As Đoàn concluded: "We can only understand Quang to a point. Beyond that, it's best to let the mystery be."

Hoàng Nhật Quang is still painting — and that is a joy in itself for anyone watching this budding artist unfold. — VNS

About Hoàng Nhật Quang

Born in 2012, of Tày ethnicity, Quang is currently a 6th-grade student at Lê Quý Đôn Primary and Secondary School in Lạng Sơn City.

Exhibitions: Solo show Hidden Souls in June 2023 in HCM City; Youth Cultural Exhibition in Seoul (August 2023); International Nirantar Children's Art Exhibition in India (2021); Children's Painting Awards Exhibition in Việt Nam (2021).

Awards: Gold Prize, Nirantar Exhibition, India (2021); Second Prize, Lạng Sơn Peach Blossom Painting Contest (2022); Dế Mèn Aspiration Prize, Việt Nam (2023).