The exhibition “Under the tree, the illusion appears” by painter Vu Trung and artist Nguyen Tra Mi, curated by Nam Nguyen, brings to the public the blending and connection between traditional and contemporary art.
Walking in the woods or in vast landscapes, nature gradually reveals spaces of symbiosis. When we think of the word “root,” it brings to mind: the roots of a tree, the source of a problem, the roots of our hair, or the roots of our own being… Each of these words points to a depth, half-submerged or hidden, often evading immediate awareness.
“Under the Tree, Blurry Appearances” is an exhibition by Vu Trung and Nguyen Tra Mi curated by Nam Nguyen.
Yet, paradoxically, these hidden aspects become the beginning, the expansion, the falling, and the completion of everything. When can the root be known, discovered, or felt? Where are we when we realize we are at the root?
Commenting on artist Vu Trung, curator Nam Nguyen said that Vu Trung's artistic journey leads the artist to abstraction, vagueness and a bit of dryness, far from realistic descriptions. Vu Trung searches for eternal subjects in nature and in nature to put into his lacquer paintings. His works preserve the essence, depicting the energy of nature radiating to the surrounding environment.
The exhibition brings to the public the blending and connection between traditional and contemporary art.
"Using lacquer techniques, Vu Trung's paintings shape and freeze the time of the landscape. They are carved and rough but leave just enough details, not revealing the essence of nature, but depicting the moment when the elements of nature blend together, shine, exchange chemical energy and evolve. These elements seem to be going through the test of time, the flexibility of flow and oxidation processes. They come together and create interesting visual stories. Vu Trung's works seem to open up a perspective at a microscopic angle, going through the outer appearance of nature," said curator Nam Nguyen.
Some works of Nguyen Tra Mi
The works of Nguyen Tra Mi and Vu Trung seem to be at two opposite poles, but they create interesting dialogues between tradition and the individual professions of two generations of artists. These dialogues give us a different context, encouraging us to observe and perceive not only what traditional art is but also to extend its meaning to the current context, when these forms are gradually becoming obscured in the context of contemporary art.
As for artist Nguyen Tra Mi, curator Nam Nguyen said: "Leaving the physical level, Nguyen Tra Mi goes in search of the 'root' within herself. Born and raised between two different worlds, she experiences Vietnameseness through the overseas community. For Tra Mi, the country is something that is always close but very far away. When pottery became her artistic language, she gradually created works that recreate the faint images in her memories of Vietnam. The images and colors lingered from the last time she visited her family when she was just a child. Small, detailed objects that are now deformed were molded into blocks, heated, then covered and pressed together. Everyday objects such as cups and arrows that were rarely paid attention to seemed to find a familiar place in her mind."
Artist Vu Trung (1981, Hanoi), graduated from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts (master's degree in traditional lacquer). Throughout his career, Vu Trung has been experimenting and remaining faithful to lacquer to paint ideas of fictional landscapes, based on observations and the range of emotions that life around him brings him.
For him, the communication between the artist and the art medium should be a two-way dialogue. He chooses to respect the natural nature of the material by listening and following it instead of trying to control or dominate it. Some of Trung's representative exhibitions include: Vu Trung: Lacquer is Lacquer - 2018; The Silence of the Angels - 2017; AIA Vietnam Eye - 2016; One Hundred Years Later - 2015; Fantasy Land - 2014.
Vu Trung's works seem to open up a microscopic perspective, penetrating the outer appearance of nature.
About the artist Nguyen Tra Mi (1994) is a German artist of Vietnamese origin currently living and working in Germany. Tra Mi felt a deep connection with ceramics since 2015, when she began studying ceramics at the Landshut Ceramic School. Mi then went to study at Landshut, where she trained to become a ceramic artist. Currently, Tra Mi is studying block art/ceramics at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design. Tra Mi's artistic practice is a dynamic exploration through various forms of expression such as sketching, printing techniques and ceramics. She often collects and reconstructs familiar objects from her memory and enjoys exploring different possibilities in each creative cycle, from throwing, block making, modeling, to surface treatment and finishing.
Some of the typical exhibitions Tra Mi has participated in: Exhibition of Tobias Wachter's collection "Mimimi!", Gallery Irrgang, Leipzig; Feste Luft, Pop Up Science, Dresden; Notes from Home, Tiff, Leipzig; Al2O3 2SiO2 2H2O.
The exhibition “Under the tree, the illusion appears” by Vu Trung and Nguyen Tra Mi takes place from December 10, 2023 to February 4, 2024 at Gate Gate Gallery, 55 Van Mieu, Dong Da, Hanoi.
Visitors to the exhibition
