mardi 15 mars 2011

the 18 proposals of the impossible




The possible – the impossible

The real – the unreal

Freedom –everyday life

Entering the exhibition is like entering the painter’s life. Upstairs, public life, political experiences, war, its absurdity, its logic, artificial façades, fake, empty smiles that we present to the world. The calmness of the color blue numbs the body, which dissolves without pain, unaware of its own disappearance. Is it not important to always smile ? Here it is expressed that by lack of vigilance, we lose ourselves.

Downstairs, the caves become chambers of intimacy and speak of exile, an empty-handed departure, the suitcases he never had, filled with memories, ties to his father – writing.

The correspondences of a single man are a story that unfolds.

Three forms: a book, crumpled, then un-crumpled, whose twenty-one pages you can now read. Its pages, suspended in space, that can be more or less read. We thus travel, faces towards the sky, in an illegible novel. And finally, crumpled pages in a suitcase, overflowing and showing the disappearance of a person who left without a suitcase and without a trace, except for what Vû invents, mixing his life with the daily news, which echoes his own departure, his own wanderings. He who was able to be born a second time. He did not get lost. His suitcase was filled with words. But the words in this fiction are too painful – a narration whose pages crumple…reading them, like writing them, is uncomfortable. You have to tell a story not to disappear. Vû tells his story as a painter would – his shapes complete it where words cannot be written.

“Eight hours earlier, the man got a brief phone call. He understood everything. He understood that love is but a utopian proposal of the impossible. He understood that it is but a dreadful little fox and that his love is simply subject to the ridicule of others. Later in the evening, he shut himself in the bathroom. In the mirror, he saw all twenty-one pages of the unfinished correspondence fly. He saw the man cry in impossible pain, in a disillusion of impossible love. Then he saw him fall onto the cold tiles, light as a tree branch.”

Vû’s paintings battle with life (paper is crumpled, flowers are restrained to their cage or are faced with soldiers…). It is his own way to go into the world. And he knows how to invite us in: paintings colorful, attractive, translucent; we approach them, recognize ourselves within them. It is then that the trap closes and we experience the pain of exile, we discover the shame in retelling it.

Leaving without taking anything away from it means never putting down your baggage. Bringing your baggage with you to an exhibition. Is it even possible?

sylvie Corroler-Talairach / curator of the exhibition



LES 18 PROPOSITIONS DE L'IMPOSSIBLE

Le possible – l’impossible

Le réel – l’irréel

La liberté – le quotidien

Aller dans l’exposition comme on va dans la vie du peintre. En haut, la vie publique, les expériences politiques, la guerre, son absurdité, sa logique, les attitudes de façade, les faux sourires vides que l’on adresse à la face du monde. Le calme du bleu anesthésie le corps qui se délite, sans douleur, sans conscience de disparaître. L’important n’est-il pas de toujours sourire? Il est dit ici que par manque de vigilance, on se perd.

En bas, les caves deviennent les chambres de l’intime et racontent l’exil, le départ les mains vides, les valises que l’on n’a pas et qui se remplissent de souvenirs, des liens avec le père – l’écriture.

Correspondances d’un homme seul est une histoire qui prend forme.

Trois formes: le livre, froissé, puis défroissé, dont on peut finalement lire les vingt et une pages. Les feuilles suspendues dans l’espace, qui se donnent plus ou moins à lire. Ainsi nous voyageons, nez en l’air, dans un roman illisible. Et enfin, feuilles froissées dans la valise, elles débordent et disent la disparition de l’un parti sans valise et dont aucune trace ne subsiste, uniquement celles que Vû invente, mixant sa vie avec ce fait-divers qui fait écho à son propre départ, sa propre errance, lui qui a pu être – naître au monde une deuxième fois. Il ne s’est pas perdu, sa valise était pleine de mots. Mais les mots sont trop douloureux dans cette fiction – narration, les pages se froissent, la lecture alors, comme l’écriture, n’est pas aisée. Il faudrait pourtant pouvoir raconter pour ne pas disparaître. Vû raconte à la manière du peintre et les formes en disent long, là où les mots ne peuvent plus s’écrire.

« Huit heures avant l’homme a reçu, rapidement, un appel. Il a tout compris. Il a compris que l’amour n’est qu’une proposition utopique de l’impossible. Il a compris qu’il n’est qu’un affreux petit renard et que son amour n’est qu’un simple sujet de rigolade pour les autres. Puis tard dans la soirée il est enfermé seul dans la salle de bain. Il a vu dans le miroir voler toutes les vingt-et-une pages de la correspondance inachevée, il a vu pleurer l’homme dans une douleur impossible, dans une désillusion d’amour impossible, puis il l’a vu tomber sur le carrelage froid, léger comme une branche d’arbre. »

La peinture de Vû bataille avec la vie (les feuilles sont froissées, les fleurs sont contraintes dans leur cage ou font face aux soldats…). C’est sa manière à lui d’aller dans le monde. Et il sait nous y inviter à notre tour: une peinture colorée, séduisante, translucide; nous nous approchons, nous nous y voyons même. C’est alors que le piège se referme et nous connaissons la douleur de l’exil, et nous découvrons la pudeur à la dire.

Partir sans rien emporter, c’est ne jamais pouvoir poser ses bagages. Le temps d’une exposition, porter les bagages avec. Mais est-ce seulement possible?

Fondation pour l'art contemporain

espace Ecureuil

l'exposition se déroulera du 11 mars au 30 avril 2011

3, place du Capitole. 31000 Toulouse. France

téléphone: 33- (0)5 62 30 23 30

du mardi au samedi de 11h à 19h30

et le premier dimanche de chaque mois de 15h à 19h30, entrée libre

visites accompagnées tous les samedis à 17h

mardi 14 septembre 2010

The Three Paintings




"Yellow Memory", acrylic on red fabric, 71" x 59"


"Look at me now", oil on canvas, 71" x 106"



"The other side of the mirror", special medium on mirror, 49" x 65"





lundi 1 mars 2010

Well Done Globalisation !

About 20 young girls in two piece bathing suit, red color, life size, painted on transparent plastic sheets (100cm X 250cm), suspended in the open air to create a huge 3D image. The viewers can approach and enter the image to discover the setting in scene of the Miss Contest.




My work proposes an ironic and ambiguous glance on a cultural reality in Vietnam by creating a Beauty Contest and by inviting the public to attend it. The beauty of these young girls can deaden the cultural need of an individual who looks at them, but can it replace the need for cultural and artistic exchanges at the national level, in the globalisation of today?

These last years, one of the most outstanding symbols of the globalisation in Vietnam is the flowering of Miss Contests in all the country. Direct products of the Doi Moi (renovation period), the Miss Contests are extremely applauded by Vietnam, as if they were huge cultural activities. If cultural activities and art disciplines in Vietnam remain timid in front of the globalisation by fear of losing their traditional identity, these Miss Contests on the contrary, and more than ever, keep open spirit, without any concern for the national identity.
Candidates and organizers of Miss Contests are ready to ignore traditional and decency rules for Vietnamese women, in order to show the body's beauty in public places. They are congratulated by Cultural and Ideological Management Services. They are as well admired by the general public. But while a visual art exhibition represents nudity, it receives certainly many criticisms and discussions on the national identity, the Vietnamese manners and the moral values.

Well done Misses! Well done Globalisation!

jeudi 18 février 2010

Subject or Object

Installation, transparent plastic sheets in 12 pairs, each sheet 100 x 270cm.










Some people feel more confident thanks to photographic tools. This is a chance for them to show their right of owning not only the camera but also the subject taken by the camera. In other words, camera have taken them to the position of subject and every thing else around them is object. Taken pictures also helps the camera owners to show their power. They have all the privileges to control the lens and choose their subject.

mercredi 2 décembre 2009

The Illusion of war

Installation of 45 suspended transparent plastic sheets, as a huge labyrinth.
Installation de 45 feuilles suspendues de plastique transparent, sous forme d’un grand labyrinthe.



“The panels, like heavy shower curtains, feature South Vietnamese soldiers on one side and on the other, unseen from the first side, North Vietnamese soldiers. The panels allow visitors to actually enter the work. There is also the feeling of nature and the jungle, imparted by floral patterns. As you move through the panels, you get a sense of the horror, fear ans confusion “as Vietnamese brothers killed each other using foreign weapons” (The Australian)












« Les feuilles, transparentes comme les rideaux de douche, présentent les soldats vietnamiens du Sud sur le recto et sur le verso - invisible de la première face - les soldats vietnamiens du Nord. Elles permettent aux visiteurs d’entrer réellement dans l’œuvre. Il y a également le sentiment de la nature et la jungle, grâce aux motifs floraux. Pendant que vous vous déplacez suivant les feuilles transparentes, vous obtenez un sens de l’horreur, de la peur et de la confusion «comme les frères vietnamiens qui se tuent les uns les autres en utilisant des armes étrangères» (The Australian)


lundi 9 novembre 2009

May longevity be with you

Installation de 41 figures réalisés sur plastique transparent.











Viva la Politica

Installation de 70 images réalisées sur plastique transparent.