HCM CITY — The “10 in HCMC” contemporary art exhibition is showcasing works of 10 artists from Japan at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

The exhibition displays 20 paintings and installation work in Japanese paper and watercolour, oil, and acrylic. All of the works reflect contemporary social issues.

Yoshiya Ohara, the eldest of 10, is showing paintings from his collection titled Red Series.

“My recent concept is the image of mitochondria, one of the cells of life. I paint it in a humorous form with passionate colours,” said the 83-year-old painter, adding that he would be happy if visitors could feel the chain of life.

Ohara has taken part in dozens of exhibitions in Japan and other countries, such as US, China and Mongolia.

Ryoichi Hiratsuka has brought paintings in his latest collection Inner Perspective 2017.

Hiratsuka attached small plastic human figures on a flat panel in colours of white or black.

“I will be very happy if my works at this exhibition will affect the vision and consciousness of people and motivate them to create thoughts about the essential nature of today’s life and the world,” said Hiratsuka, a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Female artist Nako Kobayashi sets up an installation with “useless” things such as dust, roots of trees, and stones. — VNS Photo by Phương Mai

His paintings have been displayed in France, South Korea, China, Belgium, Japan and Việt Nam since 1976.

Female artist Nako Kobayashi is showing her installation with “useless” things such as dust, roots of trees, and stones. She has put them in small pockets that hang together on a wall.

“Through these things, I want to observe the fluctuation of feeling before small events happen every day,” said Kobayashi.

The exhibition, organised by Blue Space Contemporary Arts Centre, also features works by Reiko Homma, Nobutoshi Matsuura, Yoko Nakamura, Aki Miwa, Yoko Shimuzu, Susumu Ohira, and Naoki Yamada.

Huỳnh Văn Mười, chairman of the HCM City Fine Arts Association, said: “The exhibition introduces new creative art languages by Japanese artists that help me and local artists become more open-minded.”

Though the works, Japanese artists are depicting their views of contemporary social issues and reflecting people’s feelings about society, said Mười.

The exhibition will close on July 21. The museum is at 97A Phó Đức Chính Street in District 1. — VNS