A fascinating journey through the pieces of life.

"Inside, Outside, and the Pieces" is a solo exhibition by artist Ngo Hung Cuong. This is his third solo exhibition, held exactly 17 years after his debut and 12 years after his second. I missed the second one, so after spending quite a bit of time walking around the gallery (which would normally only take about 3 minutes to walk along the walls at a snail's pace), I felt I needed to say something about what I gleaned from it.

To be honest, my initial impression from the gallery entrance was one of complete disbelief. Although all the works in the exhibition were large-format paintings, my eyesight at that distance didn't allow me to discern any details, shapes, or colors. However, my impression immediately shifted when I stood before the first painting (which I chose simply because no one was disturbing it) at a suitable distance. For the first few seconds, I felt dizzy and disoriented, as if suddenly surrounded by a noisy, chaotic crowd. It took me a while to regain my composure before I could gradually see the details in the painting titled "Year of the Monkey."

The artwork is made up of 365 pieces of wood, each roughly the size of a playing card, symbolizing the 365 days of the year. Each piece of wood features a drawing of a monkey, rendered in a sketch-like style (to the point of being impossibly sketchy). Each monkey has a different expression, activity, and body language, representing the various facets of life—joy, anger, love, and sorrow—that humans experience every day of the year. To truly understand what I was seeing, I had to carefully examine each brushstroke on each piece of wood (even scrutinizing whether any pieces were drawn identically) and then look at the overall picture after they were arranged. And so, I was drawn into the world of the monkeys, and it took me a long time to escape.

After "The Year of the Monkey" and after moving from one painting to another, I suddenly realized the best way to appreciate the works on display: it requires meticulous attention to detail, just as the artists created them. Because each painting here is not just a single story; they are all made up of many different pieces—things/stories/objects/events that are very familiar, easily seen, and encountered in daily life, placed together. This also explains the title "Inside, Outside, and the Pieces," and I believe it is the most accurate and reliable description of the unusual spatial order established in this room.

Look, the simple, naive, and innocent brushstrokes evoke prehistoric caves. The familiar zodiac animals (monkey, rat, cat...), the five-fruit platter recall folk art and the joyful celebration of the New Year. The "feast" suggests a lifestyle that values ​​warm and convivial family meals. The Buddha seated on a lotus pedestal, or the figures of Good and Evil, the golden chrysanthemums... represent beliefs and worship. The faces of the people, with their diverse expressions, are no different from the life around us, with its fleeting (or profound) encounters. And there are so many other stories about life that you can explore within, with all their rich/difficult - hot/cold - sweet/salty flavors, sometimes a moment of warm family togetherness, sometimes overflowing with the smoke and fire of human existence...

All these pieces combine to create a gallery where paintings intertwine with stories, like a string of beads. They exist right here, in here, and out there, in the very life around us. They create a connection between the past and the present, between myth and reality; they show the cultural exchange between Vietnam and other countries (for example, the paintings with religious elements remind me of Indian Thangka paintings), while simultaneously inspiring a better life and creativity in the viewer.

The use of materials in the exhibited works further emphasizes the concept of "pieces." Ngo Hung Cuong used a wide variety of materials for this exhibition: wood, fired clay, handmade paper, canvas, gold, silver, oil paint, acrylic, leather, papier-mâché... This is like the artist conducting an experiment, while simultaneously creating a unique adventure for the viewer. Furthermore, I sensed in Cuong a desire for a balanced and harmonious life with nature through the use of purely natural materials.

Furthermore, I believe that each person's experiences and memories are unique; no two people are alike. Therefore, the stories they "read" when viewing "Inside, Outside, and the Pieces" will certainly be different for everyone. Only by seeing it firsthand, slowly smelling the wood, the paper, the colors, the earth... and listening to the awakened memories, recognizing the inspiration that has been sparked, can one truly understand the journey they are undertaking. And finally, I want to say that this is a great exhibition to see.

The exhibition "Inside, Outside and the Pieces" is open until July 8, 2020 at Hanoi Studio Gallery - 15 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

KinCoi