Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Legendary and lively zodiac animals are on display at an exhibition of work by Vu Dinh Tuan and Nguyen The Hung.
The exhibition ‘Twelve Zodiac Animals’ kicks off today in Ha Noi, presenting two collections of works in two different styles.
While Tuan works with woodprints, Hung’s medium is lacquer on canvas.
“Painting zodiac animals is always a big challenge for artists because they are real animals [except the dragon] but still imaginary and legendary with spiritual roles,” said Tuan.
“The goal is not painting them as they look like in reality,” Tuan said. “We try to make them become symbols of the year. For example, the mouse is a symbol of intelligence and the pig is a symbol of prosperity and satiety.”
It took 10 years for Tuan to finish the collection of 12 paintings. They reflect his life, with ups and downs, he said.
“No matter how we describe the zodiac animals in the artwork, we always want to send a message of wishing people prosperity and happiness,” he said.
When Hung was working on the collection, he did not paint the zodiac animals as sacred symbols. He thought instead of animals that are familiar to most people. However, he still follows the style of creating fantasy symbols and patterns in the paintings.
“Dog, cat, buffalo, rooster, mouse, goat and pig are animals that we often see in daily life,” Hung said. “Dragon is the only zodiac animal that doesn’t exist. However it’s not strange because it appears at many temples, pagodas and cultural activities of the Vietnamese people." — VNS