Actor Hứa Vĩ Văn completing a painting at Toong coworking space. Photo ngoisao.net

HCM CITY —  Artist Hứa Vĩ Văn's new artwork Vùng Yên (Night Irene) is on display and will be auctioned off to support Vietnamese soldiers in border areas. 

The painting Night Irene is mixed media and was made in front of the public audience at the Toong workplace. 

Friends of Hứa Vĩ Văn were invited to the opening ceremony on Saturday. They see the large painting sized at 3,6m by 1.2m. Photo vnexpress.net

"The visitors can participate in the auction by writing their bid for the painting on paper and put it into a box at the exhibition," Văn said.

The painting, inspired by the island of Santorini, Greece – a place that represents the artist’s peace of mind, will go to the highest bidder on May 15

Văn experimented with acrylic, sea snail shells and starfish, which were attached to the painting with sticky powder and glue, finishing with a glossy coating.

Although he perfected his work at Toong in just a few days, he spent a long time experimenting at his personal studio to find the most natural and thorough drawing process.

Looking at the artwork, the viewers can see the sky, sea and earth. In it, the shells and starfish represent simple and anonymous creatures that have a great role in nature and immense impact on sustainable human life.

Night Irene is a poetic reminder of the damage tourism can do to starfish, according to Dương Đỗ, founder and CEO of GocCreation and Toong. 

"Văn is continuing to experiment with his creativity after his first exhibition last year," said Đỗ. "It is highly appreciated. His experiment is also our experiment."

The paintings at the display include a large painting and four smaller others themed about the sea curated by GocCreation.

"I want to pay tribute to the border guards who are protecting the peace of the country day and night," said Văn

Văn is a heartthrob actor of the Vietnamese film industry who first learned to paint 20 years ago. 

Last year, he auctioned his paintings online during the social-distancing period and gave all the profits to the Việt Nam Motherland Front.

Văn plans to visit border guard stations in the southern province of An Giang at the end of this month to present necessities such as masks, tea, coffee and food to the soldiers.

In case the COVID-19 pandemic has not been controlled by then, he will ask the provincial Women's Union to offer money to the soldiers. 

The paintings are on display until May 15 when the closed auction will be held at 188 Võ Thị Sáu Street, District 3, HCM City.

Entrance will be limited to 20 visitors at a time, while masks will be mandatory. VNS