Đinh Ý Nhi
The Artist
“My paintings… reflect lost stories about the love of my family and my country. What is life? I think it is like a river that flows before my eyes. Suppose you were a drop of water, your happiness probably would lie in the state of drifting peacefully along with the current through waterfalls and rapids. Is there any change then? – Nothing in the world” – Dinh Y Nhi
Dinh Y Nhi, one of Vietnam’s most celebrated female artists who dared to confront convention and break with the traditional accepted feminine expression in 1995 with her stark black and white stick figures on paper with their bold stance facing the world expressing the entire range of human emotion. A controversial body of work that immediately attracted international attention, the artist was set on her path of singular, inventive expression. Not always accepted by the cultured milieu at the time in Vietnam, Nhi continues on her solitary path. Today, the artist is very reclusive, rarely seen and yet quietly works away in her studio.
Nhi’s paintings are beautifully textured representations of the artist’s own inner world. Unabashed, spirited, bare, Dinh Y Nhi’s paintings are what many artists strive for but never realize. The divine cadence of Nhi’s work is a result of a woman interested in neither recognition nor fame. It is certain Nhi will always be found on her own path listening for resonant and dissonant tones, imbedded within an emotional topography that lies beyond the realm of censorship.
Nhi has exhibited widely within Vietnam and internationally and is considered one of the top artists in Vietnam. Her works are in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum, the National Art Museum of Malaysia and the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
People of Yesterday
2023
Fine Art Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam
My Little Happiness
2016
Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Solo exhibition of oil paintings
2010
Viet Art Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Gallery 55
2005
Bangkok, Thailand, Shanghai, China
The inner world of Dinh Y Nhi
2003
Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Gallery 55
2001
Bangkok, Thailand
Goethe Institute
2000
Hanoi, Vietnam
Canvas Intl. Arts
1999
Amsterdam, Holland
Mai Gallery
Forum Schloss Platz
1997
Hanoi, Vietnam
Aarau, Switzerland
Vietnam Fine Arts Association Gallery
1995
Hanoi, Vietnam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Changing Identity: Recent works by women artists from Vietnam
2007 – 2009
Kennesaw State University Art Galleries, Kennesaw, Georgia, Trammel & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas, Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota
Group Exhibition
2006
Bombay, Indiam
Vietnam Female Artists, USA2002 Vietnam Art Actuel
2006
University of Montreal, Canada
In Memory: The Art of Afterward
2006
The Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York City
Gallactica
2000
Vietnam Fine Arts Association Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Asian Fine Art Factory Gallery
University of the Philippines
Gap Vietnam, House of World Cultures
Frankfurt Arts
1999
Berlin, Germany
Manila, the Philippines
Berlin, Germany
Frankfurt, Germany
City Museum
Art Museum of Bassano del Grappa City
A Century of Vietnamese Modern Art
Art Museum of Pusan
1998
Paris, France
Vincenza, Italy
European Tour
South Korea
Hathamalay Gallery
Contemporary Arts Exhibition Centre
Vietnam Express
Meridian Intl. Center
Center Wallonie-Bruxelles
1997
Bangkok, Thailand
Amsterdam, Holland
Oslo, Norway
Washington D.C., USA
Paris, France
Museum Fujita
1996
Tokyo, Japan
Portside Gallery
Itoyama Gallery
An Ocean Apart
3 Women
1995
Yokohama, Japan
Tokyo, Japan
Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Services, USA
Hang Bai Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Asian Arts Exhibition
1993
Bangladesh
Four Artists, Alliance Francaise
1992
Hanoi, Vietnam
National Arts Exhibition
1990
Hanoi, Vietnam
MEMBERSHIPS
Vietnam Fine Arts Association
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Singapore National Art Museum
National Art Museum of Malaysia