The Artist

1954-2019 Bethesda, Maryland USA

Bradford Edwards started coming to Vietnam in the early 90’s combing the country looking for all manner of found objects and photographs. From anonymous black-and-white snap photos and other cultural flotsam forgotten in Vietnam’s movement towards development and peace, the artist created timeless collages with life’s un-extraordinary details, revealing new spins on old realities that give cohesive form to disparate pieces of the past.

His father, Roy Jack Edwards, who died in 2005, was a fighter pilot over Vietnam, a distant, mythical figure to his son. The younger Mr. Edwards missed the war himself, but amassed a collection of hundreds of Zippo lighters and in 2007 the book “Vietnam Zippos” (co-authored with Sherry Buchanan of Asia Ink UK), was published by University of Chicago Press USA, Thames and Hudson UK.

His art, rich with texture, color and form, created from photos, objects and other remnants of Vietnamese society since the 1940s, allow the viewer access into a Vietnam of the past as it merges with modern self-conceptions of identity. Edwards’ work refuses to be a simple idealization of all things vintage. Instead it poses a series of questions: ranging from “Who were you, and what of your life?” to “How did we get here?” Edwards’ work allows the forgotten, domestic nuances of the past a chance to breathe again and in doing so strengthens present ties with a history too easily forgotten during this moment of development.

Bradford not only created his own works of art, but he wrote extensively for many art publications on Vietnamese art and was a highly respected writer.

He studied art from 1975-1979 in Santa Barbara California, 1980-81 Sussex University, Brighton, England, Bachelor of Arts degree, Media Studies and in 1982-85 Long Beach State University, Long Beach, California, USA, Industrial Design.