Four artists coming from three
states in America will unite at the Viet Art Gallery in Houston, Texas, before
the summer ends. Nguyên Khai and Ann
Phong (California), Dương Phước Luyến (Texas), and Nguyễn Trọng Khôi
(Massachusetts) will showcase some of their newest work at an exhibition
lasting from August 21-29, 2010 at Viet Art Gallery, 12924 Bellaire Blvd.,
Suite 101, Houston, Texas 77072.
“It has been a long time that we
have not had the opportunities to meet the audience in Houston,” Ann Phong
said. “With our upcoming exhibition, we
hope that the audience will see our effort in creating our artwork and our
continuation in finding our own creative pathway.” This is the second time Ann Phong, a MFA graduate
from California State University at Fullerton, will hold an exhibition in
Houston.
Although the artists are showing
their works side by side in the same exhibit, visitors will see distinct styles
and themes in each artist’s collection. Nguyên Khai and Nguyễn Trọng Khôi both
graduated from the Gia Định College of Fine Arts in Vietnam. Dương Phước Luyến studied fine arts while
attending the Universtiy of Architecture in Saigon, Vietnam. He also took
private classes with the masters Lương Thiếu Hàng (Chinese ink painting), Tú Duyên (water color), and Ngô
Việt Thụ (oil painting). The artists
will meet and greet the audience at the opening reception on Saturday, August
21, 2010, at 4:00 p.m.
At the opening reception, the
aritsts and the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) will
also hold a book signing of Nghệ Thuật Tạo Hình Việt Nam Hiện Đại (The
Contemporary Visual Arts of Vietnam) by Huỳnh Hữu Ủy. The book was published by VAALA in January
2010. There are now only 30 copies left to sell at the book signing. The proceeds from the book sale will be used
for the printing of the English edition. Trần Thiện Huy, who resides in Houston, is working on the translation. Bao Ngoc Nguyen, a community activist and one
of the co-founding members of the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association in
Houston, will be the master of ceremony for the book signing and the opening
reception.
Huỳnh Hữu Ủy spent several years
completing the 600-page volume, which spans from the dawn of Vietnamese visual
art to the establishment of l’École des beaux-arts d’Indochine, depicting pioneers such as Tô
Ngọc Vân, Nguyễn Gia Trí, Nguyễn Phan Chánh in the 1920s to the blossoming of a
new generation of Vietnamese diasporic artists in the early 1990s. Furthermore, Huỳnh Hữu Ủy extensively covers
the period of 1954–1975 in South Vietnam. This is the first time that the contribution of the artists from this
era is closely examined and evaluated. According to Huỳnh Hữu Ủy, this is the period when “art flourished and
developed splendidly, and it is indeed a very important era for Vietnamese art
history.”
Recognizing that the book is an
important information source for the researchers and the younger generations to
learn more about the Vietnamese fine arts, VAALA is seeking funding to complete
the English edition.
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