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| Ceci N’est Pas Une Guerre – This is Not A War exhibition will take place at Eli Klein Gallery from May 23 to August 23. Photo hanoigrapevine |
NEW YORK — A group exhibition of Vietnamese artists will open in New York on May 23.
Seventeen artists, including Vietnamese living in America, France and Germany, will showcase 24 works at the exhibition entitled Ceci N’est Pas Une Guerre – This is Not A War.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Resistance War against America, the exhibition seeks to challenge the long-standing tendency to confine Vietnamese contemporary art within narrow narratives of war, trauma and survival.
The exhibition prompts a reconsideration of how Vietnamese visual culture is presented within a global context. While artists have engaged deeply with the past fifty years of history after the war, their works have often been interpreted through the lens of the aftermath.
Ca Lê Thắng’s compositionally poetic painting serves as a quiet footnote to the natural and spiritual landscapes of southern Việt Nam, expressing a deep emotional connection to his homeland’s nature and history.
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| Artist Ca Lê Thắng, who is 66 years old, will display his work at Eli Klein Gallery, New York. — Photo phunuonline.com |
Through humour and symbolism, Trần Lương retells a traditional Vietnamese legend in a gently narrated yet subtly subversive manner, reflecting the sociopolitical tensions and transformations of early 21st-century Việt Nam.
Trương Tân creates work that is both emblematic and groundbreaking in its exploration of social norms and marginalised identities. Blending historical research with conceptual art not taught in Việt Nam’s educational system, Bùi Công Khánh playfully, yet critically, challenges official reward systems by combining porcelain military insignias from multiple nations to question the authority behind medals.
Vietnamese lacquer serves as the core medium in Oanh Phi Phi’s practice. The Vietnamese-American artist explores the transmission of memory, reflections on image theory, and experimental possibilities in scale and technique. Bùi Thanh Tâm blends the delicate spirit of Vietnamese folk traditions with the bold allure of pop and consumer culture, creating works that are at once challenging, seductive, and provocative.
The exhibition also introduces works by Nguyễn Phương Linh, Hà Ninh Phạm, Xuân Lam Nguyễn, Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, Phạm Tuấn Tú, Đoàn Văn Tới, Lê Hoàng Bích Phượng and others.
Curated by Đỗ Tường Linh, the exhibition will bring together the voices that challenge the notion of Vietnamese art as a singular concept, creating a layered dialogue that is poetic, introspective and globally engaged.
Based in Hà Nội and New York, Linh is a part of Bard Curatorial Studies programme class of 2025 and was part of the curatorial team of 12th Berlin Biennial.
She has engaged in various art exhibitions and projects in Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond since 2005. She participated in international arts programmes such as Le 18 Curator In Residency 2024, Asia Cultural Council Research Fellowship 2023 and Ljubljana Graphic Art Biennial 2019, Slovenia.
Some of her notable curated exhibitions include Who is Weaving the Sky Net in Singapore, Means of Production 2024 in New York and SEAcurrents in London.
The exhibition will be opened by the artists and will run until August 23 at 398 West Street, New York. — VNS
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