Hoang Anh Trung studied at the University of Architecture - a strict, technical and disciplined training environment. But as a natural antithesis, Trung's artistic journey took a different path, leaving the academic education system to pursue a more instinctive, freer creative method. And doodles are spontaneous, seemingly aimless drawings, often considered "fringe" and have become the main tool for him to shape his own voice.
For Trung, doodle is not just a drawing style, but a philosophy of life: “where imperfection is accepted as part of beauty, where no stereotypes bind emotions or reason. Thanks to that, artists can reach the 'child' part of themselves - the intuitive, defenseless part, always open to the world around them”.
Exhibition "Four-pointed Star"
The exhibition “Four-pointed Star” is not a display arranged in a logical order or a strict theme. Instead, it appears as a free flow of thoughts, where each work is a slice of the artist’s mind, a piece of the artist’s inner world.
Anh Trung's inspiration comes from very ordinary things, it could be a childhood snack, an old street corner, a cartoon character image, a comic book once folded in a school bag or architectural details of Hanoi during the subsidy period. But under the doodle strokes, those images are no longer descriptive but become personal symbols that are transformed, innovated and stacked on top of each other according to the logic of emotions.
Special doodles
Doodles as an instinctive “escape” from academic structures
In works with no coherent structure or clear center, each visual element is equal in space as we remember memories: out of order, without climax, just fleeting points of light. The only thing that holds them together is emotion – and for Anh Trung, that is the core element of artistic practice.
This exhibition does not intend to affirm anything as “complete”. On the contrary, Trung sees “Four-Cone Star” as a developing organism, like his own inner world. Each work is a moment held in motion, and the exhibition space is where the audience can visit that world in a slice of time.
The exhibition brings back the emotions of memories
It is worth noting that this exhibition is just the beginning. Trung revealed that he is working on a series of four large works representing the four seasons of Spring - Summer - Autumn - Winter as the “pillars” of his creative universe. At the same time, he continues to pursue a storytelling style that combines personal identity, indigenous culture and global connection.
“Four-pointed Star” invites viewers to enter the imaginary world of a young artist searching for himself in a visual universe of his own creation. There, personal memories blend with popular culture, doodles become a bridge between instinct and vision, between innocence and reflection.
The exhibition opens not only an artistic space, but also a dialogue space between artist and viewer, between present and memory, between self and others. And in that dialogue, beauty is found not in perfection, but in the small but vivid things like the eyes of a child who has just begun to repaint the world with his own colors.
The exhibition is open to the public, taking place from June 3, 2025 to July 13, 2025 (9:00 to 20:00, Tuesday to Sunday) at Mo Art Space - B3 floor, 136 Hang Trong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
