Artist Vu Tuan Viet: Painting helps me express myself to people

Cubism and the Escape from Self

Vu Tuan Viet was born into a traditional family, with his father Vu Xuan Duong and mother Vu Thi Huong both being painters and lecturers at Nam Dinh College of Culture, Arts and Tourism. His interest in painting began when the young man and his father attended the 85th anniversary celebration of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts.

Vu Tuan Viet realized his dream of pursuing a career in painting by passing the entrance exam to his dream school, but it wasn't until his fourth year that Viet began to immerse himself in cubism when he heard a lecture from his lacquer teacher.

Immersed in his chosen path, Vu Tuan Viet has achieved many successes. In 2016, right after graduating, Viet won the Second Prize (no First Prize) in the National Exhibition of Paintings and Photos, Group B, Professional Fine Arts for Students, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Then came the Encouragement Prize for the "Recycled Art" Project in the competition organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO and Cocacola 2019. But perhaps the most impressive thing for this 9X artist is the award for the top 10 authors who won the Young Artist Award in 2021 by the Arts Council - Vietnam Fine Arts Association, Exhibition "What are we playing with", VCCA. Because as Viet shared: "The works that won the prize this time marked a period of transformation in my artistic language and thinking about developing my works during the quiet period".

Artist Vu Tuan Viet.

From the questions of life, thoughts about pressure in the early stages of adulthood, until now, the lonely colors and quiet characters of Vu Tuan Viet have gradually taken on a more "hopeful" breath, following the changes of emotions, welcoming bright rhythms to his works.

The young artist once confided: “I choose a cubist, expressionist and sometimes abstract style. I want to paint what I feel about life and hope people feel my works with emotion instead of comparing them with reality.”

In his first solo exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vu Tuan Viet brought to Saigon his first solo showcase called “Rotation”. This is a continuation of the flow of “Rotation” in Hanoi with locations in Hoan Kiem and Ba Dinh districts. Not only is it the main name for his work, “Rotation” in Vu Tuan Viet is also a transformation, change, and adaptation in terms of emotions, time, space, and geography.

In each different stage with different ways of facing, each rotation brings about internal turmoil for each person. From the healing that is cultivated with each rotation, each of us will continue to be steadfast to face, continue to rotate to rise up.

Vu Tuan Viet’s ideas and thoughts about the outside society are clearly depicted through more than 30 works displayed within the exhibition. In addition to the presence of new stories and sketches, artist Vu Tuan Viet will also perform a painting during the exhibition.

Journey of striving and sharing

As a young generation, Vu Tuan Viet has enthusiasm and a spirit of dedication to art. From history lessons and the time directly participating in volunteer campaigns to help children affected by Agent Orange, Vu Tuan Viet has partly understood the cruel pain that this poison has caused to the fate of Vietnamese people through many years of war. The young man uses his drawing to depict the scars of war in works such as "Memories of War", "Red Zone", "Obsession". Those works clearly depict the haunting consequences of Agent Orange in the minds of viewers.

Vu Tuan Viet has had a dynamic journey. However, to achieve initial success at a young age, this young man also went through difficult times. Painting is not easy to conquer the public, so young artists always have to work hard on the path to affirm their own drawing style, their own special qualities.

With a different painting language - not easy to see, not easy to see, not easy to perceive, Viet confided his concerns on the journey of a young artist: "Approaching and bringing works to the public requires a process of absorption so that the public can gradually receive and become familiar with the works. With expressions of reality but different from reality, the public must not only see with their eyes, but also combine with personal experiences to thereby come up with a unique perspective on the work".

Painter Vu Tuan Viet creates paintings.

Outside of a cubist painter whose abstract paintings always puzzle viewers with sharp strokes, sad and sometimes even dark colors, is a dynamic, simple, gentle, optimistic young man who always looks at the positive. “Perhaps, the saying that people choose their profession, and the profession chooses people is very suitable for me. Throughout my adulthood, I often lived quite isolated, with few friends and social contacts. Thanks to painting, I was able to express and talk to people.”

Putting down his paintbrush and picture frame, Viet and a few close friends wandered around the sidewalk cafes and bars, singing along with the artists of Hanoi. In Ho Chi Minh City, Viet also sat on a stool and chatted with friends in a simple, rustic corner of a cafe.

For a young man who has struggled with life, with experiences and seeing everything with a multidimensional perspective, all the hidden corners in his heart, Viet has an easel as a place of liberation. A real-life Vu Tuan Viet will only live and paint, striving to reach other levels of painting.

Recently, Vu Tuan Viet has also been a curator for art exhibitions, or an art consultant and coordinator for projects. Having gone through many difficult steps, the artist who has just turned 30 wants his upcoming journey to be a journey of spreading and accompanying young people with a passion for drawing, as Viet shared: "I also aim to gain more experience to open a workshop, creating a space where I can display my own works in the most professional and oriented way, as well as a place to support artists - especially young artists who have not had the opportunity to introduce their works to the public."