HOT NEWS: Blink with rhythm of modern life

VietNamNet Bridge – The exhibition of nine contemporary artists entitled “Blink” marks the return of San Art, an independent, non-profit, artist-run exhibition space in HCM City, in its new location at 3 Me Linh street in Binh Thanh district.

The exhibition introduces 19 artworks of various media by nine young artists from Hanoi and HCM City, ranging from painting and photography to performance and works on paper that illustrate the young artists’ search for “a visual language beyond the consumer art-object” and their quest to use everyday life as inspiration.

“The title expresses how the exhibited works capture the fast-changing picture of this city,” said Dinh Le, one of the four overseas Vietnamese artists that run San Art.

Nguyen Thanh Luan joins the event with “Reasoning”, a pop art Maga work. Huong in Flowers and Uyen in flowers by Tran Minh Duc and No Name 5, No Name 13, Hair Saloon and Fashion Shop by Lam Hieu Thuan are digital printing artworks.

Nguyen Thi Bao Ngoc’s Saigon 1 is a painting, using various materials. Nguyen Si Tuan contributes Green Peace, an installation artwork while Bui Anh Phong introduces Afternoon Sleepwalking, an oil painting.

Nguyen Anh Tuan’s 45-minute performance art caught the eyes of many young viewers, including foreigners.

Dinh said the group tries to attract young artists who might not have an opportunity to exhibit elsewhere.

“There’s obviously limited space for artists in the city, and just imagine the number of young artists who graduate from art school and disappear from the art scene,” he said. “We want to change that.”

San Art, which opened in October 2007, is perhaps the only artist-run space in Vietnam and is funded by private donations and external grants on a project-by-project basis and from the sale of exhibited works.

Dinh said the group has enough funding to stay for a year in the new location, which features a larger exhibition area and a reading room. They plan to organise several presentations and talks by visiting artists from abroad.

The exhibition runs until July 24.