Land for Sale by artist Pham Huy Thong.

HCM CITY  (VNS) — The latest collection of painter Pham Huy Thong will be exhibited at the new downtown gallery space for Craig Thomas Gallery in HCM City from December 11-15.

The solo exhibition will then move to the original space at 27i Tran Nhat Duat Street in District 1 from December 16 through January 8.

Thong's Hope series focuses on issues related to Viet Nam's rural farmers and urban poor.

"I want to portray images of farmers in a spiral of economic changes. As in all developing economies, farmers in Viet Nam have had to flee their homes and fields to get to the cities where they can find jobs and more secure incomes," Thong said.

"They go with the hopes of being able to send money back to their families, but in the process they also lose something of themselves and their roots in the effort to make their bread and butter."

Born in 1981, Thong is one of Viet Nam's most thoughtful and compelling young visual artists. A graduate of the Hanoi Industrial Fine Arts University in 2004, his previous collections Dong Bao (2010) and Hands (2012) have demonstrated his relevance as a commentator on social and political issues affecting the country and the Southeast Asian region. — VNS