HÀ NỘI  Artist Lý Trực Sơn has displayed his latest works marking a milestone in his career by experimenting with primitive natural materials like soil and stone.

The exhibition Đất (Earth) displays nearly 50 paintings mostly created over the past three years, including 15 large paintings measuring 4.2m by 2.1m.

The main materials Sơn works with are from the hills and mountains of different areas of Việt Nam. They are crushed, mixed with glue and then used to paint on canvas.

Having bid farewell to sơn mài (lacquer) – a traditional medium homonymous with his name – and the fluidity of dó (poonah) paper which accompanied him through his years of wandering abroad, Earth represents a profound convergence of materials, space, time, creative language, mindset and artistic spirit, according to curator Đỗ Tường Linh.

"The artworks featured in the exhibition reflect Sơn’s contemplation on an abstract manner, a multilayer cultural approach," Linh said.

"Rather than attempting to decipher and interpret the meaning behind the pieces on display, Earth invites viewers to immerse themselves in a state of trance, contemplating the enigmatic allure that emanates from the artist’s unconscious or the physicality of the materials Sơn has carefully distilled to craft his unique cosmology." 

Sơn was born in 1949 in the central province of Thừa Thiên Huế to an intellectual family. He graduated from the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts and later taught there.

During his life, he was in the military, studied in France (on the French government’s scholarship for École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Paris) and lived in Europe from 1989 to 1998.

His works are also included in many prestigious Vietnamese and international collections such as the Việt Nam National Museum of Fine Arts, National Gallery Prague and some private collections.

Experimenting with primitive natural materials, Sơn taps into the primal origins of abstract language, striving to capture and preserve the enigmatic mysteries of the time and space in which he exists.

Sơn thinks that the spirit is more important than material in painting. Material is a technical choice which is suitable for the artist's expression. He does not even define the concept of abstract painting. 

“Painting is primitive and it needs to be rooted in nature," Sơn said.

"If we only inherit things from modern times, that's fine. But that is not my path."

He experimented with various materials including lacquer, poonah paper and mixed media. His works reflect the social and political currents, as well as his own journey.

He co-founded Sơn Ta (Native Lacquer) group and was an avid member from 2013 to 2018. Sơn Ta’s main goal was to experiment and develop a distinct visual language for lacquer.

Sơn named the exhibition Earth, a word that conveys many stories and of course not just materials, according to celebrated painter Lê Thiết Cương.

"Behind the Earth is stories including the artist's individual story and others as well. There is person in earth and there is earth in person," said Cương. 

Earth exhibition runs until November 17 from 10am to 9pm at Vincom Centre for Contemporary Art (VCCA), 72A Nguyễn Trãi Street, Hà Nội. VNS