Speed ​​and perfection!? (Dinh Phong – Dao Chau Hai Exhibition) Nguyen Quan *

Just a year ago, he was a brand new immigrant in the art village. This year, viewers in the capital were reunited with the same “old acquaintance” at the same place. This was last year’s peach blossom.
In one year, Dinh Phong has fulfilled an astonishing amount of works (more than 100 medium and large-sized ones, including paintings and sculptures) – on average 2-3 works per week, an output that only a few “mad artists” around Vietnam can achieve.) At the same time, he built a workshop and opened a high-class Art Resort gallery in his wife’s hometown of My Tho…

Everything has been rushing at a faster pace than they were in the first year, cascading onto the area nearer to the centre of art. He has turned his will, his desire, his belated dream of “living and dying with/for art” into the daily life of a professional painter. A neckbreaking transition from “can’t draw” to “can only draw” within 1,000 days, is it possible in the context of contemporary art in Vietnam…!? It may be too early, too sweet, to talk about an original author’s style or techniques, but the appeal of an unusual voice, the persuasiveness of an ability to master languages of blocks and colours, strokes- patches, rhythms… are still as fresh as the first spring.

I see the efforts of a mature artist, determined to practice his skills, ready to question and challenge himself, not afraid to compare his paintings to those of the same type by others so as to avoid falling into well-trodden paths and choose a way all of his own in the dense forest call fine arts. That is bravery. Compared to last year, Dinh Phong’s paintings are now much less spontaneous, less innocently yielding the act of creation to subconcious surrealism, instead he now adds to the process more hesitation and calmer contemplation: Sometimes the colours are considerably reduced to contemplative black and white; sometimes a background layer is added which creates a zigzagging space; less merrily bright colours but sometimes deep in purple, brown, dark green sadness and loneliness… The copper blocks are sometimes laid bare, widely broken, with gaping mouths that swallow patches, blocks, planes and burned edges…

Acrylic pigments are still splattered over the tautly stretched fabric, but sometimes they don’t just sing anymore, but dare to twist, roar, chat with each other like humans, animals, plants… Abstract expressions are no longer completely inorganic like in his paintings a year ago. These aesthetic changes make the exhibition attractive. In terms of figurative language, is this change a wise or hasty strategy? I don’t know! To me, it doesn’t matter whether Dinh Phong’s paintings and especially sculptures of last year or those of this year are better – art doesn’t need to have progress or rank. Just a little warmth of human love and an admiring look at beauty is enough to comfort us.

Dao Chau Hai has been one of the most prominent and influential names in Vietnamese sculpture for the past 20 years. He contributed to the academia of modern sculpture with a group of successful and talented young students and sculptors. His works and activities alone have contributed to creating the first echoes of Vietnamese sculpture beyond the borders. He is also a master for young people regarding the production and practice of Contemporary Art in the context of Vietnam.

Dao Chau Hai and his art are, to me, a kind of harsh rigorousness (I don’t use the word perfectionism). An artist must commit himself with an “engaging” political attitude and transparent ethical responsibilities. Monuments of Truong Son Cemetery, Hang Duong Con Dao Cemetery, the installation of East Sea Waves… are songs of tragic commitment. The special thing is that the committed artist is also an aesthetic artist! Even the initial beginning must be perfect. The Think Thing series requires full use of perfection of materials, manufacturing technology, the elegance of algorithm and digital technology, and clarity of concept.

In Hai’s medium-sized abstract works from Ninh Binh stone (a kind of material you can too easily fail to master) showcased this time, we still see the rigorous perfection of large compositions, rich in texture, but very coherent in stone nature, surfaces, edges, corners, shadows… Every detail must be in place. Singing the song with an entirely new standard of releasing the lyrics. Perfection is, of course, a strict narrow door, but one you pass through it, it’s wide open, tolerant and serene, a door any artist dreams to enter.

Thanks to the two authors: An interesting, valuable, and worth-seeing exhibition of statuettes that I am honored to introduce.