7 Years: A Metamorphosis

CUC Gallery is pleased to present exhibition 7 Years: A Metamorphosis to commemorate the gallery’s 7th anniversary and introduce our special collection of six distinguished artists: Nguyen Trung, Do Hoang Tuong, Tulip Duong, Nguyen Thanh Truc, Nguyen Son and Ly Tran Quynh Giang.

7 Years: A Metamorphosis marks a journey of great strides and transformation in our artists’ career trajectories and CUC gallery since its opening in 2012. In the last seven years, our artists have further consolidated their own artistic approaches and philosophies. They represent three different generations of Vietnam: Nguyen Trung of the 1940s; Do Hoang Tuong, Tulip Duong, Nguyen Truc of the 60s; Ly Tran Quynh Giang and Nguyen Son of the 70s.

The past seven years has also witnessed many social, historical and economic changes in Vietnam and around the world, impelling the artists to innovate to adapt to these transformed contexts. Though each art work has its own distinct signature, metamorphosis is the common theme connecting all the presented works in our exhibition.

Nguyen Trung (b. 1940) has expanded his repertoire with brand-new works on paper that have never been shown in public. The artist’s inner freedom and hallmark shine through his vibrant color palette and liberated brushstrokes. Trung is inspired by the cathedral’s rose windows – their structures, colors and the stories behind each piece. His latest series of works on paper is the artist’s quest to renew himself and to conquer a different material. With paper as the new medium, the emotions of the artist also come to life more easily; their expressions are more fluid and direct. The latest series reflect the artist’s new conception about oneself in the cosmic world. What one has experienced is embedded in his unconscious, sometimes emerges in front of him like a flashback bearing the shape of the artistic self at that impromptu moment. The artist might have a plan in his head before putting the brush down on paper. Yet, as he gets deeper and deeper into the creation process, his subconscious prevails. The constant fight between reasons and the subconscious often end up in the dominance of the latter. The subconscious nevertheless nourishes one’s conscious, and like a cycle, the fight gives way to new ideas, new art and transformations.

Do Hoang Tuong (b. 1960) presents three paintings of his abstract and figurative works in 7 Years: A Metamorphosis. His two older works of abstraction portray imagined life in the city, giving viewers a glimpse into his internal world with a range of emotions against the social and economic development of the city at the time. With his abstract arts, Tuong freely let his emotions and feelings dictate how the canvas would turn out without much human presence. With his latest figurative work, however, he switched to focus more on depicting the relations of human living in the urban city. Tuong of the present moment is more mysterious, solemn and ethereal. His works have changed to convey stories relevant to the social scenes. Body figures in more natural, exquisite and celestial states have come to replace the twisted, writhing positions previously seen in his arts.

In 7 Years: A Metamorphosis, Ly Tran Quynh Giang (b.1978) introduces a series of her brand-new pieces, yet still retaining her signature. The rabbit, the owl and the portraits once appeared often in her paintings have given way to lyrical and emotional brush strokes that are more self-expressive. A green color that is very typical of Giang and Vietnam is filled with the unspoken emotions and feelings inside that she shares with the beholders through her works. Bringing a little sun, wind, cloud and waves (sometimes the waves in front of a storm), Giang makes us wonder about existentialism and contemplate on our own existence in this world.

Tulip Duong (b. 1959) brings to 7 Years: A Metamorphosis her latest works Dangerous. Inspired by classical and contemporary music scores by David Garrett, Tulip employs strong brushstrokes with a deep, sensational color palette, weaving her emotions through the canvas with rhymes and rhythms. At the exhibition, Tulip also introduces her first four sculptures made out of composite and iron anvil. Two materials that do not seem to go well together beautifully turn into a hybrid under the creative hands of the artist.

Nguyen Thanh Truc (b. 1969) presents his latest layered works employing a full spectrum of colors to achieve a dreamy effect in his works. From an illusion of a crystal, fragile snowfall to the third movement of a concerto with dramatic and sensational colors, his works always evoke poetic and transcendental emotions felt through every line, layer and space. The full gamut of colors depicting the depth of stratum seem to portray the varied emotional states of a person. It is difficult to grasp, intangible yet easy to relate to when the beholder takes a moment to look into his works.

Nguyen Son (b. 1974) introduces three art works in the exhibition reminiscent of his beautiful childhood. For Son, fragments of his childhood memories are sometimes hard to sew into a coherent thread. Yet it’s such a fun game to play. The fond remembrances of youth give the nourishment to his soul to keep him going through life. Swimming in the bay of memories, one finds the missing pieces, the very connection to ourselves. The bruises life has left in us become healed. The three artworks are linked together like a series of letters the artist sends to him of the past, bringing the spectators to travel between time and space.

Sensitive and susceptible to changes, artists from each period depict the realities of such era. Through 7 Years: A Metamorphosis, we see the reflections of our constantly evolving contemporary life, our relation with the past, history, nature, and our existence in the universe. We hope you can find some part of yourself reflected in the art works presented – whether it’s a fragment of history, a story of the presence, or just the contemplation on life and the future ahead. Metamorphosis is in all of us – the need to keep parts of ourselves but shed others for a new, hopeful change.

Venue: CUC Gallery, A4703 (Floor 47), Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower A, Dương Đình Nghệ Street, Hà Nội 129408

Public viewing: 29.10.2019 – 16.01.2020
Private opening (Invitation only): 28.10.2019, 6pm

For further information, please feel free to contact us at dzung@cucgallery.vn.
We look forward to seeing you soon!