Opening: 04.08.2010 @6pm
Exhibition on view until 04.09.2010
Location: L’usine
151/1 Dong Khoi Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City

This show is a gathering of four artists: Phan Thao Nguyen, Truong Cong Tung, Le Nguyen Chinh, and Nguyen Chan Tin. They meet during a nap-time state– when one is half asleep and noises in real life are something else in a dream. Turn right, and a mouse scurries into a corner as a lizard catches the mosquito. Turn left and see a woman (maybe?) dancing in silk. A bead of black rain drops on your head. Look up– you can’t tell where its coming from. The walls are melting and shiny objects from the past glimmer.

About the artists

Recently, Phan Thảo Nguyên is interested in making work about the “source”. For example, in Vietnamese mythology, the source of the dragon exists, but has always been a mystery. In this particular work, she plays with the water as a symbol in culture and in art. Play with the ideas of naiveté she askes: “Where does rain come from? Where does it go once it enters the ground?”

Trương Công Tùng is interested in making work about forgotten corners. In a home, forgotten corners are where you store your luggage, or last year’s Christmas decoration. In Tùng’s home, this is where he puts his stretchers. There is a quirkiness to these places; it is where mice dwell, spiders weave their webs, and lizards lay their eggs.

Lê Nguyên Chính has been investigating the primal feelings of allure and seduction. Lusted by decorative arts, he is interested in how ornamentation turns into form and takes a character on its own: a woman, a dancer, a whole opera.

Nguyễn Chân Tín is interested in making work about body parts that cannot decompose after death. He is inspired by historical urban legends such as Thích Quảng Đức’s heart—it was the only thing that did not burn after his martyrdom. He regards his piece for this show as fire’s dream. In other words, if fire could dream, this would be it—unveiling a corpse of deities.

This is Tammy Nguyen’s curatorial debut.