Personal creativity - a boost for contemporary painting

Tradition, heritage or indigenous identity are valuable premises, but not enough. Artists always need new thinking, new perspectives, to reflect the ever-changing spirit of the times.

The work "Water Palace" by artist Trinh Minh Tien won the Special Prize of the "UOB Painting of the Year" competition in 2023.

A new breeze for the country's fine arts

With the work "Thuy Phu", artist Trinh Minh Tien won the Special Prize at the "UOB Painting of the Year" contest held for the first time in Vietnam in 2023. Expressed on the hood of a car, the work is full of surrealism, depicting the image of Hanoi Cathedral in the rain, both nostalgic and magical, evoking a sense of impermanence and changes in Vietnamese cultural history. "Thuy Phu" is a series of paintings I created many years ago, with the desire to recreate architectural heritages associated with the personal mark of people. Creation is an artist's own journey, requiring new methods of expression, new thinking, new perceptions, new perspectives. That also reflects the development needs of the times, along with the means of expression and a separate voice so that I can speak my own voice most clearly" - shared artist Trinh Minh Tien, who has created in the artistic language of the 8x generation.

With the work “Erosion”, using wood burning and synthetic materials on wood, artist Ngo Van Sac won the Silver Prize in the Established Artist category at this year’s “UOB Painting of the Year” competition. The work is impressive not only because of the current story that the author posed about nature’s fierce responses to the way humans treat the environment, but also because of the depth of thought that he has persistently pursued for a long time: From the individual to the community, from reality to memory. “Erosion” is just a part of his consistent creative flow, which was known to the public through the exhibition “Distant East” earlier this year. Not only using the technique of painting with fire on wood (burning), combining screen printing and multi-material gluing to create surface depth, Ngo Van Sac also built a layered memory space, where portraits of Vietnamese women appear as if coming out of ancient documents, full of narrative, quiet but moving.

“UOB Painting of the Year” is an annual art competition with the desire to attract young artists - those with new thinking, modern style, clear artistic personality and unique identity, originating from national traditions. This is considered a new playground of regional scope, a promising push for Vietnamese contemporary painting to reach out to the world .

Along with two 8x generation painters Trinh Minh Tien and Ngo Van Sac, many potential young faces have also been named over the two seasons, typically Phan Tu Tran, Lai Dieu Ha, Phan Tran Viet Nam... Their appearance not only brings a new breeze to domestic fine arts but also affirms the vitality of a generation of artists who are gradually forming a new look for Vietnamese art.

Painter Dang Xuan Hoa - Chairman of the Painting Arts Council, Vietnam Fine Arts Association, and Head of the Jury of the "UOB Painting of the Year 2024 - 2025" competition, expressed his hope: "Vietnamese contemporary art has a strong, attractive voice, clearly reflecting the richness of the Vietnamese soul. I always prioritize works with new thinking and perspectives, but at the same time must contain soul, that is the precious heritage of Vietnamese fine arts".

Overcoming challenges on a traditional basis

The Indochina College of Fine Arts (now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts) is the cradle that has trained many generations of famous painters of the country. In addition to absorbing and inheriting the quintessence of traditional art, the courses here also encourage new creative methods in painting, sculpture, architecture and applied arts, creating the appearance of modern Vietnamese fine arts, imbued with identity. It is impossible not to mention names such as Nguyen Gia Tri with the works "Girl in the Garden", "Taro and Banana Leaves" - where he always broadened his aesthetic vision, combining the ancient and the modern, the splendid, luxurious with the rustic; or Nguyen Tu Nghiem with "Ancient Dance" and "Giong", innovative creations in modern painting originating from tradition, through the expression of shapes and colors on lacquer and pigment, demonstrating the master's talent in the language of contemporary visual arts...

However, according to artist Dang Xuan Hoa, creating art from traditional materials seems simple when said, but in reality it is an arduous journey, requiring the artist to be truly patient and alert to realize himself. “Bringing tradition or heritage values into contemporary works is a challenging journey, especially in the current era of information explosion. In my creative experience, to achieve that, artists must accept many trade-offs. With just a phone, we can know what the whole world is doing, what international artists are thinking and drawing. If we do not have enough professional and creative courage, we can easily get carried away. Temporary influence can be good, but to assert ourselves in the long term, among countless nuances and trends, is much more difficult. This happens not only to young artists, but also to those who have become famous. How to change on that foundation really requires aspiration, concern, and even a price to pay” - artist Dang Xuan Hoa shared.

The Vietnamese art market is currently quite vibrant, but there are also many negative aspects. The attention of collectors to the Indochinese painting genre has led to many works continuously setting new records on the auction floors. However, this signal seems to be only a temporary positive for the artistic life, but has not really contributed to the depth of the country's art scene. In other words, it is just an "echo" in the small, fragmented market mechanism of Vietnamese art and we cannot take that criterion as a long-term goal. Therefore, the greatest requirement for artists is to always innovate, from methods to creative thinking. That is the ability to self-awareness, to return to the ego, to what is unique in the soul to create works that are truly their own. When that is achieved, the will and creativity will go beyond the initial feeling of excitement, becoming a journey full of self-confidence.

Ms. Duong Thu Hang - Director and Curator of Hanoi Studio Gallery believes that the Vietnamese art market is still young. In the past 10 years, this market has gradually formed and developed, with the emergence of a new generation of young Vietnamese collectors with better aesthetic taste, who know how to take advantage of information technology to connect with the world as well as understand more deeply about domestic practices. According to her, locality is no longer the key factor, instead, the individuality of the artist is what is valued. Building an artistic personality is a long and arduous journey, requiring understanding, knowledge and especially the will to constantly explore and create.

“We cannot use a few signals about heritage and tradition forever... Because they are just formalities, and cannot give us a story that is deep and convincing enough,” Ms. Duong Thu Hang affirmed.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/sang-tao-mang-dau-an-ca-nhan-cu-hich-cho-hoi-hoa-duong-dai-704926.html