Listening to Jazz through... paintings by artist Pham Van Bac

Jazz is a musical genre that relies on timely flexibility but is very rhythmic in overall melody. Improvisation is the way Jazz artists express themselves and create their music. Jazz is the same with freelance artist Pham Van Bac. Started from mid-August 2021 until now and still continuing, this series of paintings is the artist's improvisation on the path of exploring music and himself.

Jazz is very “close” to painting. Jazz artists are no different from abstract painters who dance their brushes and splash their colors. They “splash their colors”, making sounds that seem noisy, chaotic, energetic and sometimes even contradictory, become a beautiful, harmonious whole.

“Jazz has both the scent of wine and love. The emotions that Jazz brings me are full of energy. Jazz belongs to the earth, Jazz is a worldly pleasure. Unlike classical music, which calms emotions, Jazz has its own dreamy and soaring quality” - artist Pham Van Bac shared.

Painter Pham Van Bac used many different forms of painting for this theme, some paintings follow the realistic trend, some paintings have impressionist influences with overlapping color streaks, and some paintings depict abstract and cubist shapes.

Describing Jazz through painting is an interesting and challenging thing. The encounter of Jazz with painting is the encounter of the master of colors recreating sounds. The artist must skillfully create "chords" with strokes and then convey them so that the viewer can "hear" them visually in the most natural way on "flat" paintings. Jazz is lively, festive and colorful. Throughout the series of paintings, the tones of Jazz have been brought by artist Pham Van Bac into diverse shades, sometimes low, sometimes high, sometimes bright, sometimes deep. Entering each painting of the artist, we enter the dancing melody through the sometimes spreading, sometimes clear streaks of color.

Join Travellive in a short conversation with the artist.

First of all, could you introduce your painting career to Travellive readers?

I love painting but before becoming an artist, I did other jobs to earn a living. I also taught myself to paint, without going to any training school.

My love for painting and music was formed during my youth in the North, and I really started painting when I moved to Hue at the age of 36. Although I don’t paint much about Hue, the “spirit” of this city still influences my works to some extent – ​​a bit moist, dreamy and lyrical.

To be able to paint such an impressive series of paintings about Jazz, how does the artist perceive the relationship, or connection, between himself and this music genre?

I approached Jazz through music records later than young people today. However, I have loved Jazz for about 15 years now. The beauty of the artists and their music has really conquered me. Jazz also gives me comfort and creativity. I have watched several live Jazz Festival programs performed by foreign artists, but perhaps the most impressive time for me was listening to Jazz performed by artist Tran Manh Tuan.

Painting Jazz is my way of expressing my love as an artist for music in general, and for the music I love in particular. I want to paint music and try to express the sound of Jazz, the colors of Jazz, the beauty of Jazz performers. The images in the paintings are inspired by the shows I have seen and added my own imaginative colors. I also listen to Jazz while painting Jazz for more inspiration.

The first painting I made inspired by Jazz music was a long time ago, in 2019, it was an abstract painting. It was not until 2021 that I decided to take this theme seriously and I am still pursuing it.

What difficulties did the artist encounter in the process of creating this series of paintings?

During 4 months of diligently focusing solely on the theme, composition, lines, and colors of the painting, I tried to create the spirit and movement that the Jazz sound evokes. I used the sound emphasis through color. Expressing that is a challenge, but also an interesting thing for a Jazz-loving artist. That is my goal, however, my ability is still limited, how far I can achieve depends on the perception and evaluation of art lovers.

In the creative process in general, do artists ever experience a state of "no ideas"? If so, what do artists do about it?

When working on a subject or a style of painting for a long time, the emotions and creativity will more or less not be as fresh as at the beginning. At this time, the artist may switch to another subject for a while to regain balance and then return to the subject being pursued. Or I will stop and reflect, find another way to express my subject and supplement related knowledge.

If Jazz painting is considered a dish and you yourself are the cook, what "flavors" does the artist want it to have?

My jazz is salty and spicy, with a little alcohol and love. I think this “dish” is for mature people. If possible, I would like to serve it in a lively and free atmosphere.

During this complicated epidemic situation, is the artist's creative work affected?

The pandemic affected everyone, including artists. The pandemic had a significant impact on the psychology of artists, as it became more difficult to sell one of my paintings. But as an artist who works independently, alone, I quickly adapted and continued my work. Because artists still paint…

Quynh Phuong (Photo: NVCC)