Echo - Dang Mau Triet
Hue artists breathed a new life into the exhibition with their outstanding works. The original creativity, up-to-date skills and desire for creativity and devotion of their own could be seen through the themes that they chose.
Nguyen Duy Linh, formerly a lecturer at Hue College of Arts, is among very few artists in their 60s still full of passion and creativity. His paintings appeal to the viewer because of his new thoughts and contemporary aesthetic notions, his open-mindedness mixed with a bit of mystery, his professional use of sober but unconventional and creative colors. Nguyen Duy Linh is among the painters and lecturers who earns a great deal of respect of their colleagues for his delicacy, skillfulness and acute imagery.
Nguyen Duy Linh presented two works at this camp: "Path of Clouds" (oil painting) and "Missing the Mountain" (acrylic paint). "Missing the mountain" employs very few colors, mainly brownish-black, which makes the painting look so soft and delicate. The painting makes the viewer stop, think and sympathize with the artist about his deep feelings. On the contrary, "Path of Clouds" is full of contemporary abstract elements. The background is no longer subdued but becomes prominent with bold, strong colors and full of sentiments. "Path of Clouds" is a return to his conventional way but in a new nuance and with new emotion. It is the deepening and breaking of the spatial structure. Each of his paintings invites the viewer to join with the painter in search of new spiritual discoveries.
Moon River - Le Van Nhuong
As a famous painter in Hue, Dang Mau Triet participates in almost all important art camps in the country such as those in Truong Sa, Da Lat, Dai Lanh, Tam Dao, Dak Lak, etc. The 2017 Fine Arts Camp in Da Nang is his new experience on the road to beauties. He introduced the audience an interesting depth through the two paintings: "Echo" and "New Day". "Echo" is inspired by "Bat am" ("Eight Sounds"), a line of Sinh-Village folk paintings, and Hue folk songs and expressed through bright shades of the 5 typical colors of Royal Hue. Dang Mau Triet's style is quite diverse through the use of highlights and details, and the way he mixes colors for the background, which is very typical of the Hue style. Dang Mau Triet has always been attentive to colors and unique characteristics of each region. In this painting, the beauty of the city of Huong River and Ngu Binh Mountain is seen not only through the images of female musical instrumentalists but also the color shades and patterns typical of the Nguyen Dynasty on their costume, which the painter did on purpose.
"The 2017 Fine Arts Camp was held at the studio of Vu Trong Thuan, a Vietnamese-French artist who follows the postmodern style. There we had a chance to meet not only the members of the studio but also many young artists from Ho Chi Minh City, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Da Nang," said Dang Mau Triet.
Path of Clouds - Nguyen Duy Linh
Le Van Nhuong with his three oil paintings: "Connecting", "Moon River", and "Stone Horse" made a pretty original and poetic impression at this camp. His paintings evoke deep feelings, making the viewer think of the diverse beauty of life depicted with innocence, good rhythm and composition. Deep feelings are hidden in the image of the static horse of stone recalling nostalgia; the dreamy moonlight up behind on the rustling trees are like the connection of past and present, simple but thoughtful.
With the works exhibited at the 2017 Fine Arts Camp, the three Hue painters left a deep impression on their colleagues and the public. Each of them had his own exciting experiences of creativeness. It is hoped that there will be similar camps in Hue, a city that boasts the biggest group of painters in Central Vietnam. Unfortunately since until now, a museum of fine arts for Hue has not been yet established, many valuable works by Hue artists are leaving.
Story and photos: PHAN THANH BINH