Sculptor Nguyen Xuan Thuy: Statues of mixed joy and sadness

(Baonghean) -Some people say that Nguyen Xuan Thuy is a "greedy" person in art. In addition to his forte in sculpture, he is also interested in interior and exterior design and painting. Nguyen Xuan Thuy is also a talented person in management. Currently, this artist from Nghe An is in charge of exhibition work at the 16 Ngo Quyen Exhibition House (Hanoi) under the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, and is the Vice President of the Hanoi Fine Arts Association. Therefore, busyness seems to always hold him back as an unavoidable thing...

In the office full of paintings and statues on the second floor of 16 Ngo Quyen, between times of receiving guests, Nguyen Xuan Thuy took the opportunity to chat with me. Having lived and been attached to Hanoi for a long time, his heavy Central accent has not changed. He said: "Maybe because I am from the sea, that saltiness has permeated deeply, firmly, and is the root." Nguyen Xuan Thuy was born and raised in the coastal area of ​​Dien Chau. In 1976, he went to Hanoi to study when he was very young. He studied for 5 years at the Intermediate level of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, and then he continued to study for another 5 years at the University of Industrial Fine Arts - majoring in Sculpture. After graduating, he joined the army. During his 2 years of military service, Nguyen Xuan Thuy's main job was to create fine art objects for the division. After being discharged from the army, he returned to work as a lecturer at the Ha Son Binh Fine Arts School, now the Hanoi General Vocational College. In 1998, he started working in management, first as Head of the Vocational Department, then as Head of the Training Department. It was not until 2012 that he officially transferred to work at the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.



Artist Nguyen Xuan Thuy

Recalling his time in the army, sculptor Nguyen Xuan Thuy was moved to say that, although that period was short, it had great significance for his artistic career. The military environment not only helped him hone his skills but also helped him understand soldiers better, so that later, through the multidimensional lens of an artist, he successfully built the image of soldiers in both peacetime and wartime using many materials. With only 2 years in the army, he knew how to effectively apply and turn his artistic work - as a soldier - into a self-training process, and then knew how to apply that self-training process into the training process for many generations of students when he stood on the school's podium. During his 27 years working at Hanoi General Vocational College, whether as a lecturer or an administrator, Nguyen Xuan Thuy always placed the three basic functions of an art pedagogue in a dialectical relationship, which are teaching, research and creation. For him, doing these three things well will create great changes in enriching his life and artistic experience.

In his works, Nguyen Xuan Thuy is not as picky about his subject as some other artists, but depends on his emotions. He directs his vision towards humanistic and traditional inspiration and wants to exploit that inspiration to the fullest. Nguyen Xuan Thuy's artistic world, especially in the field of sculpture, can be anything that exists and is present around the artist. And, no matter what material: stone, wood, cement, ceramic or lacquer... the image that Nguyen Xuan Thuy puts effort and passion into depicting becomes soulful, the idea that the artist strives for is expressed. Thanks to that, through large and small exhibitions organized from the Central to local and regional levels, many of his works have won high awards, such as the work Thieu Nu (white cement) won Third Prize at the 10-year Exhibition (1983 - 1993) of National Sculpture organized by the Ministry of Culture; The work Hairbrush (wood) won the 1997 Red River Delta Regional Award organized by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.





Two works: Young Girl and Woman of Kham Thien Street by Nguyen Xuan Thuy.

In 2002, the work The Woman of Kham Thien Street (stone) won two awards: the Red River Delta Regional Award of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and the Ministry of National Defense Award at the Exhibition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory in the Air. Next, Nguyen Xuan Thuy won the third national prize for propaganda paintings commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Capital (1954 - 2004) organized by Hanoi City; the first prize with the work Echo of Thang Long (ceramic, lacquer) at the Capital Fine Arts Exhibition in 2011; and recently, in 2012, the work Crescent Moon (ceramic) was awarded by the Hanoi Fine Arts Association. In addition, he was awarded the Medal for the Development of Fine Arts and the Commemorative Medal on Vietnamese Culture and Arts by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.

Talking about art and artists, he said: “In my opinion, artists in general first need to have talent, then good aesthetic taste. Particularly with sculpture, artists need to have good creative thinking ability, good health, diligence, skillful hands and be meticulous with their work.”

Then, in a distant, slow voice, he confided: “There is a large number of artists who do not receive salaries in society. If they continue to pursue art, how will they live and create? The number of artists who can make a living from their profession is very small, which is truly sad!...”

It is true as you said, many artists are trained systematically, elaborately and expensively, and they also worry and love their profession very much. Yet they still "give up halfway", resolutely leave, say goodbye... indefinitely to art. In the midst of a market economy, food and clothing are no joke for poets. This situation, according to Nguyen Xuan Thuy, may increase as contemporary art is increasingly enthusiastically welcomed and boldly experimented with by Vietnamese artists, especially young artists.

However, the barrier to this type of art is not the responsibility of the artist - the creative subject, but lies with the creative manager. For art in general, people often consider them by ear rather than by artistic sense, listening more than being interested, and when there is something new, they listen and hesitate even more. And the artist cannot wait forever to be licensed while there is always the urge to create... "The creative manager of art must have a good artistic sense and the level and knowledge to understand the value of art, otherwise the artist will have difficulties. Officials should go to exhibitions to encourage artists, "look around" a little to see how far the country's art is developing. For fine arts in general and sculpture and painting in particular, should the State pay attention by encouraging artists to buy paintings and statues...".

Before saying goodbye, sculptor Nguyen Xuan Thuy told me: “Artists need encouragement and motivation to be inspired and continue to create.” After saying that, he sat silently like a statue - a statue filled with joy and sadness. I understood that his feelings were not only from the perspective of an artist, but also from that of a manager with a passion for art.

Quynh Lam