 |
Spellbound: The installation Colour Chart by Japanese artist Yoshiki Takata is viewed at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Mai |
HCM CITY — The Viet Nam–Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition 2010 in HCM City is featuring 120 works including works in oil, lacquer and acrylic, and an installation created by eight Vietnamese and eight Japanese artists. The Vietnamese artists' heritage is evident in their use of traditional art using materials like lacquer.
Vietnamese-German artist Khai Doan uses lacquer, a medium he studied for more than seven years.
His The World is a triptych of lacquer paintings reflecting his conflicting feelings about life.
The first piece represents the earth and its connections while the second is about the slow disintegration of the planet after becoming too hot due to "movement inside The World", Doan says.
"The last painting is the one that represents the healed world," Doan says, adding that its image looks like a human brain.
The other artists, La Nhu Lan, Tran Van Thao and Nguyen Thanh Mai, present paintings in oil, acrylic and materials from daily life.
Mai, who uses paints, paper clips and anti-mosquito incenses in her works, says: "I just make a mess like a child to express my interests."
Mai has two paintings at the exhibition, Ngu Thuong (Five Constant Virtues Including Kindness, Decorum, Uprightness, Wisdom and Faithfulness) featuring her characteristics, and Bo Cuc Tam Cuong (Virtuous Ladies) depicting old women she met during the evacuation from the war.
In the exhibition, Japanese artists bring the atmosphere of their country and their thoughts about the fine arts.
Using watercolour to depict her feelings on paper, Aki Miwa gives a sense of springtime in Japan through trees, flowers and meadows.
Miwa says she doesn't think while drawing but "just travels inside the work".
Other artists like Kenji Hashimoto, Yoshiyuki Takashima and Minoru Suganuma present oil on canvases, and Yoshiki Takara displays an installation.
In Takara's Colour Chart, he uses multiple colours on transparent, white cloths hanging from the ceiling.
The photos of sites where he travelled are screened on the cloth to help visitors sense the soul of each place.
"This time, I brought to Viet Nam the wind and colour from Yogyakarta, Indonesia and the hardness of the Senko Elementary School in Tokyo," Takara says.
The joint exhibition was organised by the Blue Space Contemporary Arts Centre.
The exhibition at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1, will close on August 29. Tickets are VND10,000 each, except for children under 10, who are admitted free. — VNS