Exhibition
“BLOSSOMS AND BIRDS” by Thai Nhat Minh & Tran An
Opening: 17h30, 15.06.2018
Exhibition; 15.6 – 06.07.2018
At: eSpace, Floor 3, Savina building, No. 01, Đinh Le Street, Hoan Kiem, Ha Noi
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The sculpture exhibition “Blossoms & Birds” by two young sculptors Thai Nhat Minh and Tran An which is exhibited in the Espace is a perfect display where the workspace and art space intertwined. The two themes “Blossoms” and “Birds” sculptured with the two opposing materials “Paper and Iron” are interestingly combined through the creative mixture of colors, materials and geometrical language.
Thai Nhat Minh used the “paper pulp” material mixed with the glue and other natural materials and colors for his work. The hands-on technique helped him to convey all his emotions during the manipulation of the artifacts. The way he used the material was like the way the bees and ants build their nests, which is pristine and nature-close.
Tran An used “Iron” combined with the industrial and modern techniques of casting and welding. He has the activeness in molding, bending, cutting, welding and grinding techniques as well as the ability in connecting regardless the dependence on the ratio, weight and volume of the artifacts. The understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the iron material helped him create aesthetic works which have both toughness, coldness and stubbornness as well as charm, sentiment and poetry, which is close to a modern social life.
Thai Nhat Minh often borrows the image of animals, especially birds to tell his stories because he conceives birds as a symbol of dream, aspiration and peace. The birds, in many folk tales that he has read, also convey culture, beliefs and history. In this series of works, he used the “Bird” image to express his concerns in waiting, in remembrance, in reminiscing about the past or just a sense of space and time with the sun and four-seasons round.
Tran An was inspired by the nature. In his conception, the stems, leaves or flower buds all contain abundant sources of energy and are full of vitality. Through the “Blossoms” Collection, he wants to capture the most beautiful, hidden and wonderful moment of the nature and to convey the hope of growth and expansion for a brilliant future into his artworks.
“Birds” and “Blossoms” are not simply birds and flowers; they are concerns, dreams, hope and sentiments for the nature and the life that Thai Nhat Minh and Tran An desire to convey through this exhibition.
Mini sculpture show “Seeds” at Dong Phong art Gallery
Thời gian: 03.06 đến 03.07.2014
Địa điểm: Đông Phong Gallery, số 3 Lý Đạo Thành, Hà Nội.
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“Seeds”…
Story of ten thousand years ago (1)
And the appearing of life after three thousand years of dormant seeds (2)
Minh’s continuous story from 5 years ago (3),
And the continuous movements lying inside every shape.
A story about the pattern of virtues and the destruction
Or the launching platform of dreams.
Finally, everything will be the beginning and the hope
That is the story of “Seeds”…
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(1) South East Asia is known as the cradle of water rice civilization, about 10 thousands years ago.
(2) In 2010, it was said that some 3000 -year paddy seeds in Thanh Den have been sprouted (they are belonged to Dong Dau cultural period).
(3) In 2012, Thai Nhat Minh’s some first sculptures “ The seed” have been displayed in the group exhibition “ New Form”
Sculpture solo Exhibition “Soldier – Soldier’s wife” at Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
Opening: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 5.30 pm
Exhibition: 23 – 27 Apr 2016
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
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Sculpture solo Exhibition “Soldier – Soldier’s wife”
Opening: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 5.30 pm
Exhibition: 23 – 27 Apr 2016
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
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“SOLDIER – SOLDIER’S WIFE” is the 3rd solo exhibition by sculptor Thai Nhat Minh, following “The birds”in 2013 and “Breeding season” in 2014.
The exhibition has been prepared in 4 years (2013-2016) with the main materials of stone, aluminum casting, wood and iron.
“SOLDIER – SOLDIER’S WIFE” is a popular image in East Asia and Southeast Asia life and culture. Vietnam had been through so many wars in thousands of years, so the stories of soldiers leaving home and never coming back, of soldier’s wife embracing their children waiting in vain, have left a profound impact on Nhat Minh.
In culture and history, from “folk songs” to “Chinh Phu ngam” by Dang Tran Con, Doan Thi Diem, from “Vong phu thach” by Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Du, Cao Ba Quat to “Vong phu” by Han Mac Tu, Che Lan Vien, from epic “Hon vong phu” by Le Thuong to the stories of separation in the war, from Dong Son bronze arrows, Bach Dang wooden stakes to the remaining vestiges until today – those are the inspirations for Thai Nhat Minh to make this personal sculpture exhibition themed on “SOLDIER – SOLDIER’S WIFE”.
The exhibition consists of three parts:
Part 1 includes: 63 white stone statues portray women embracing their children, waiting for the husbands until becoming lonely stone statues with iron shadows. Their nostalgia lasts indefinitely in space.
The soldier’s wife statues represent many lives and feelings, from joy, sadness, worry, hope to peace and tragedy.
The material white stone is like the “waiting for husband stone”, which evokes a sense of purity, toughness, and also vulnerability.
The images of a soldier’s wife waiting in vain repeats throughout two spaces of the gallery, hopeless, without an ending point.
Part 2 includes: Approximately 150 iron statues divided into 21 militant groups, put on the tip of javelins with diameter of 13, 14cm; 3,5-4m in length, which portrays the soldier group that never came back.
The soldiers with primitive shields and weapons placed on the huge wooden weapons rush to a meaningless “game”, that shows a passive self-defense war with misery, chronic pain and hardship of many people.
About the author
Born 1984, Vinh Phuc province, Viet Nam.
2009: Graduated from Hanoi Fine Arts University – Sculpture Department
2012: Got Master degree of Hanoi Fine Arts University – Sculpture Department
Lives and Works in Ha Noi, Vietnam.
Thai Nhat Minh has over 10 years of experience in the field of sculpture and considered as one of the talented young artists today. He participated in many national and abroad exhibitions and camps as:
– Group Sculpture Exhibition “New Form” 2012, 2013, 2014
– Group Sculpture Exhibition “Hanoi – Saigon” 2012, 2014
– Group Exhibition “Asia art link” 2012
– National sculpture camp Dai Lai 2015
– Asia Contemporary vi/Art Show in Hongkong 2013, 2014
– Affordable Art Fair in Hongkong 2014, 2015
– Affordable Art Fair in Singapore 2014 and “Visual Art for ASEAN” in Thailand 2015
Awards:
– 2014. Award from The Vietnam Fine Arts Association
– 2014. Second prize of the 3th National Young Art Festival (2011-2014)
– 2013. Consolation Prize of National Sculpture Exhibition 10 years (2003-2013)
– 2011. Award from The Vietnam Fine Arts Association at National Young Art Festival (2007-2011)
– 2010. Consolation Prize of National Fine Art Exhibition(2006-2010)
“Soldier – Soldier’s Wife” is his 3rd solo exhibition, following two impressive exhibitions “The Birds” – Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, 2013, and “Breeding season” – Manzi Art Sapce, 2014.
2014. Exhibition sculpture group “Hanoi – Saigon” at Ho Chi Minh City.
Arists:
Hà Nội (10 artist): Thái Nhật Minh, Đào Châu Hải, Khổng Đỗ Tuyền, Phạm Thái Bình, Phạm Bảo Sơn, Trần Trọng Tri, Nguyễn Ngọc Lâm, Trần Văn An, Vũ Quang Sáng, Nguyễn Kim Liên
Sài Gòn (08 artist): Bùi Hải Sơn, Hoàng Tường Minh, Trần Việt Hưng, Vĩnh Đô, Trần Mai Quốc Khánh, Vũ Hà Nam, Phan Phương, Nguyễn Hoài Huyền Vũ.
Opening: 06:00 pm, November 28,.2014
Art Talk: from 09 am, November 29, 2014
From; 28.11.2014 – 0 7.12.2014.
At; 218 Pasteur Str, Distrikt 3 Ho Chi Minh City.
2014. Exhibition New Form Sculpture Group: New Form II, Sculpture-Space-Architecture.
Artists: Thai Nhat Minh, Khong Do Tuyen, Pham Thai Binh, Hoang Mai Thiep.
Opening; Fri 10 Oct 2014, 2pm
From; 10.10.2014 – 04.11.2014
At Manzi Art Space, 14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi
Curator: Nguyen Anh Tuan
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Thai Nhat Minh (1984), THE WINGS OF BIRDS, 2014
Alunium, wood and glass
Diversity, depends on the exhibition space
Taken from the idea of the bird wings, which symbolize the sky and the vast space, in New Form II, I put this metaphorical symbol in an unlimited space (in this case is gallery’s window). By using reflecting material, from here I want to create the connection between the inside and outside space, between the people and the landscape, between the front and the behind scene. The connection of the physical spaces is towards the ability to combine abstract thinking between the yes and the no, between the invisibility and visibility, between the finite reality space and the infinite imaginative space.