In the late autumn of 1993, on the occasion of my trip to Hanoi, I walked in an art exhibition centre at 29 Hang Bai street. It was here that I was greatly impressed by a group exhibition of five young artists, including Pham Ngoc Minh, Dinh Quan, Tran Quang Huy, Tran Tuan and Nguyen Quoc Hoi.

Pham Ngoc Minh, born in 1966, is the youngest of all. His paintings with deeply colors and chilly looking shades bring you to the typical cold of Hanoi winter. His simplification is meant to reach a strong expressive effect. “Early mist” and “Howling wind” both portraits image of an old woman in her silent, austere life, withstand…..Minh’s series of nudes present his variations around a single theme and style – the female figure which has been processed with delicacy result in some egg-like shapes diagonally placed across the painting.

Most of Dinh Quan’s works seem to be embraced by highly surreal hot shades carrying his dreams and legends to a symbolic and yet deep world of mystery. His childhood memories are unfolded with pagodas and communal houses, still lives here and there, Buddhist images blended into each other – quite surrealist in time and place, and yet so honest in heart and soul.

Nguyen Quoc Hoi’s theme is another look on memories in their typical serenity – reminiscence. His paintings are pervaded with childhood sorrow in yearning for parental affection and friendly care. His space is handled with generosity and the deserted pastoral scenes seem to emphasize the solitude of the ever – present young character in many frames.

Tran Quang Huy’s brush prefers a black paper background. His favorites as mostly still lives with lotuses, ceramic vases, stone dogs and familiar scenes of the Northern countryside. Even a young female with her back exposed gives you the impression of a still life. Huy’s paintings offer you some familiar beauty close to Vietnamese folklore, in which the objects are simplified but emphasized in a poetic fashion.

Tran Quoc Tuan seems to take a distinguishable path from the others. He almost give up any description of images and ventures into the challenge of colors. There are two inclinations – one is gray backgrounds supporting bright, thick brushstrokes; the other shows a composition of glaring contrasts which suggest to you the manners of jazz. These contrasts in fact amount to a pleasant mutual complementarity rather than a simple contradiction.

It is a challenging job to comment about our temporary artists, the young in particular. What we see in them today may just be a springboard for their tomorrow’s creation full of changes. A conclusion on them, therefore, is too early to make. And yet, in our chaotic environment art today, the group exhibition gives me the impression of a serious attempt coming from immense vitality.

nguyen trung

Art critic - Painter

Ho Chi Minh City, August 1994