Tiếng Việt
Nguyễn Minh Thành
The Artist
1971 Hanoi Vietnam
Nguyen Minh Thanh is one of Vietnam’s most important young artists. One of the few artists to stand up to government censorship of exhibition spaces, Thanh’s own moral and creative strength have always provided strong examples for today’s young Vietnamese artists. Always pushing the boundaries of what is expected from Vietnamese art, Thanh’s work investigates notions of individuality and spirituality in the rapidly changing climate of present day Vietnam.
Not only known for his work on Do paper, silk and lacquer he has also created a number of very successful and innovative installation pieces. Thanh’s work achieves a delicate balance between Vietnamese traditional values and Western Conceptualism.
Thanh achieved early international recognition in the late 90’s as part of the triad of artists Nguyen Minh Thanh, Nguyen Van Cuong, Nguyen Quang Huy exhibiting together in Japan, Australia, Germany and the USA. In 1999 Thanh was invited to participate in several important international art exhibitions, the Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane for which he created a monumental conceptual work, Mother and Son, the Triennial of Asian Contemporary Art, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan as well as exhibitions in Tokyo, Japan and the Casula Power House in Sydney, Australia.
Greatly influenced by his teacher, the internationally well-known conceptual artist, Truong Tan, Thanh continues to artistically express his feelings of the dilemmas and contradictions of human existence. Currently seeking a more contemplative, meditative life in nature, Thanh’s works emanate a sense of calm and peacefulness.
Thanh’s works are in the public collections of the Singapore Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, the World Bank and numerous prestigious private collections throughout the world.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Tôi – Me – Moi
2013
The East Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Unspoken Words (Lời chưa nói)
2012
Eight Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City
Cloud of the Old Days (Áng mây xưa)
2011
New Space Arts Foundation, Hue, Vietnam
Earth and Ink
2007
Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Happy Citizen
2006
Mai Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Please Give Me One Object of Yours, in the Tree Project of Veronika Radulovic
Playing Cards
2005
Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi Fine Art University, Vietnam
Small Fish
2004
Ryllega Experimental Contemporary Art Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Silence
2003
Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
The Party
2000
Nha San Exhibition, Hanoi, Vietnam
Letters for My Mother
One Road
1999
Gallery of Artist Unlimited, Bielefeld, Germany
Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam
My Face
1998
Gallery Witrevin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
My Face
A Story Like Another
1997
Vietnam Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Gallery L’Atelier, Hanoi, Vietnam
First Solo Exhibition
1996
29 Hang Bai, Hanoi, Vietnam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
2011
The Bui Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
Meditation in Ink
2007
Tama Gallery, New York City, USA
Il Drago e la Farfalla – Arte Contemporanea in Vietnam
2006
Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy
The Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell
2005
Bankside Gallery, London, England
Lotus Flower – Art from Vietnam
2005
Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki
Waino Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku; Hameenlinna Art Museum, Hameenlinna, Finland
The Afternoon is Full of Signs
2005
L’Espace, Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnam Today, Galerie Amber and Galerie Caro
A Grain of Dust A Drop of Water, Gwangju Biennale
2004
Leiden, The Netherlands
Gwangju, South Korea
Contemporary Vietnamese Painting
Green, Red and Yellow
Subverted Boundaries – Cross-Bike-Airplane
2003
The Ace Gallery, Bermuda
Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam
Sculpture Square, Singapore
Installation and Performance
2002
Nha San, Hanoi, Vietnam
Group Exhibition
2000
Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, New Zealand
Gap Vietnam, House of World Cultures
Triennial of Asian Contemporary Art
Memory – Spirit – Pollution
Nine Lives, Casula Powerhouse
Night Watch
Mother and Son, Third Asia Pacific Triennial
1999
Berlin, Germany
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Sydney, Australia
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Brisbane, Australia
Clocks, Salon Natasha
Vietnam Express, Travelling Exhibition
1998
Hanoi, Vietnam
Norway
Spirit of Hanoi I and II
1998
BAU Gallery, Helsinki and Gallery of the Art Association of Oulu, Finland
Printemps Vietnamien – Paris Hanoi Saigon
1998
Pavillon des Arts, Paris, France
Plastic Waste, Asia-Pacific Artist Solidarity
1998
Centre of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Vietnam Today – Contemporary Southeast Asian Art
1998
San Francisco, USA
3 aus Hanoi
1998
Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany
Artists Calendar
Spring Color
Parcours
Tour Japan
1997
Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Blue Space Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Alliance Française, Hanoi, Vietnam
Mizuma Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Drawing and Words
1996
Hanoi Fine Arts College, Vietnam
Young Artists – New Paintings
1995
Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Safe Distance
1995
College of Fine Arts, Hanoi, and travelled to Substation, Singapore; Kunsthalle, Bielefeld, Germany; and Städelschule, Frankfurt, Germany
Escape
1995
Paul Ricard, Paris, France
Students of the Fine Art University Exhibition
1994
German Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
ACC residency in Tokyo, Japan and Queens
2006
New York, USA
Visiting Arts / Delfina International Fellowship, October 2003 – June 2004
1991
London, England
Grant from the Vietnamese and Swedish Culture Promotion Foundation
1996
