One segment of the sculptural installation, “The Barricade,” part of Nguyen Manh Hung’s “One Planet” exhibition currently being held in Hanoi
An exhibition by prominent Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng is currently on display at the Manzi Art Space in Hanoi and will run through July 28.
“One Planet’” features Hùng’s new sculptural installations that were on show in Ho Chi Minh City early this year, plus a series of paintings entitled “We’ve been here.”
The current exhibition was co-organized by Manzi, Galerie Quynh in Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi Grapevine, and was funded by the Netherlands’ foundation the Prince Claus Fund for Culture Development.
According to a press release by the organizers, drawing from his own personal history growing up in a cramped Soviet style apartment block in Hanoi, Hùng reflects on the idea of community, conflicts that exist within and without societies, and the complexities of civic development and individual responsibility.
“How is a community defined? Is the traditional idea of community just hollow rhetoric or an ideal that can evolve and adapt to modern day Vietnam?” Hùng asks, confronting these issues with his trademark irony and humor highlighting the oftentimes absurdity of human behavior.
“When I make art I often use factors that relate to my family’s past as starting points. These factors contain and reflect both the history of my country, and its consequences,” the young artist said in the release.
Born in Hanoi in 1976, known as one of the most important contemporary artists in Vietnam, Hùng has held exhibits in Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, Norway and the US.
His diorama “Living in Paradise” is currently being featured at the seventh Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia.
Manzi Art Space is located on 14 Phan Huy Ich Street, Hanoi.