Lacquer paintings by three artists at the third "Buckwheat" exhibition

42 splendid yet profound lacquer paintings by three artists are being displayed at the exhibition "The Third Buckwheat Flower" by the group of artists: Tran Quang Hai, Nguyen Truong Linh and Trinh Que Anh. Three artists, three styles but with the same passion for praising the beauty of love, landscapes and human life.

Talking to Travellive, artist Nguyen Truong Linh shared: "In recent years, lacquer paintings have received more attention from many people, including young artists. The public has also received them better, which is considered a motivation for artists to create. Although it takes a lot of time and effort, lacquer is still a sustainable material, with a high traditional character, expressing a contemporary voice."

Artist Tran Quang Hai uses simple, rustic blocky shapes with many metaphors, and a free-form brushwork in an expressive conceptual style. He uses shapes and general lines to express and glorify the love of life, the eternal beauty of women, and the joy and happiness of everyday life to a higher level like an aspiration, a dream.

Artist Quang Hai's artistic characteristics are often: wandering, stylized, liberal, and soaring. His passion since entering the painting path has always been to praise the beauty of women and their magical love.

As for painter Nguyen Truong Linh, his love is directed towards natural landscapes and ancient cultural vestiges as a tribute and a nostalgia. There, people are gently blended into the whole scene like smoke in a meditative mood. The painter expresses his ideas through soft, gentle, yet abstract shapes, colors, and interwoven lines, leading the viewer and drawing their emotions into his work of art.

Over the years, artist Truong Linh has always delved into exploiting the traditional lacquer techniques of previous generation painters: searching for the quality of lacquer and wanting to exploit the hidden potential of traditional lacquer.

According to the male artist: "The principle of lacquer painting is flat, smooth and smooth according to the traditional painting style of previous generations. But recently, the modern way of painting lacquer paintings may not need to be flat because when touched, although a bit rough, creating a surface on the painting surface creates a surprising visual and visual effect, drawing viewers into the depth of the lacquer painting. This is a way for viewers to increase emotions, creating a contrasting effect".

For example, the mother-of-pearl inlay is polished smooth, but viewers can still feel the roughness and porosity of the material, hidden under the smoothness of the painting surface. Following traditional crafting techniques, each work of artist Nguyen Truong Linh not only expresses an idea, a beauty, but also contains deep emotions.

Artist Trinh Que Anh with her realistic brushwork, the female artist brings viewers to very familiar and sweet natural landscapes through the way of emphasizing light and dark and the colors are so gentle, warm and feminine. Looking at her paintings, the audience feels like they have returned to their own loving home. The female artist loves the beauty of realism, refinement, and perfection in shaping. Fully exploiting the characteristics of traditional lacquer with a classic color palette: red, yellow, black and a red background...

Discussing lacquer art, painter Truong Linh commented: "When painting lacquer, there will be a first sketch, it is just a suggestion for the painter. When grinding, the layers of paint gradually appear, creating different streaks, they will follow that flow of emotions and not follow a pre-existing standard. Lacquer is inherently abstract, just paint many layers of paint, then gradually grind to reveal each layer of painting, many times we plan to paint like this, but after grinding, it becomes a new work. That is, compared to the first sketch and when finishing a work, it will be completely different".

Regarding lacquer, this is a traditional material used to paint lacquer paintings that can only be found in Vietnam. Lacquer trees are mainly grown in Phu Tho, and during the process of collecting lacquer, the harvesters are very susceptible to smudging the paint. In addition, lacquer also depends on the weather, and is dry when there is high humidity. The main colors are usually red, cockroach wings, black, etc.

The Buckwheat Group was founded by 4 artists: Ngo Van Cao, Tran Quang Hai, Nguyen Truong Linh and Trinh Que Anh. The first exhibition was held in 2019 at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts. The second time in 2021 at the Vietnam Fine Arts Association Exhibition Hall, 16 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi. The third exhibition featured 3 artists: Tran Quang Hai, Nguyen Truong Linh and Trinh Que Anh with 42 large and small lacquer paintings.

The "Third Buckwheat Flower" exhibition opens from June 27 to July 4, 2023 at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi.

Some works at the exhibition "The Third Buckwheat":

Phuong Thao is the Editor of Travellive Magazine. She is passionate about traveling and loves to capture moments with her camera in every land she visits. Travel, art, and lifestyle are her favorite writing topics.

Article and photos: Phuong Thao