The Artist

1964 Hanoi Vietnam

Tran Trong Vu is the youngest son of the revolutionary poet Tran Dan, a member of the Nhan Van-Giai Pham group, a cultural-political movement of young writers, artists, and intellectuals pushing for freedom of expression in the new society in the early 1950’s. Imprisoned for his revolutionary ideals, Tran Dan is now recognized as one of Vietnam’s most influential poets and writers. Due to this turbulent family history as a young man Tran Trong Vu was enticed to leave the country to explore a wider world free from the constraints his family had experienced in Vietnam. Vu graduated first in his class at the Vietnam Fine Arts University in 1987 and in 1988 won a scholarship to study at the National School for Fine Arts in Paris where the artist lives and works to this day. The artist frequently returns to Vietnam to exhibit and to support the local art scene. He is the founder of MAP, (Month of Arts Practice), uniting foreign and Vietnamese artists in collaborative arts practice and continues to initiate themes and provide mentorship for this group.

The inspiration for his own personal work comes from his motherland and as the artist says, “A Vietnamese reality unavoidably becomes the empirical source, fierce and insistent in its demand to be expressed in any medium: from the visual image to written words.” His work is known for its critical observation of political and human derision and obsession with an everlasting past.

The artist has exhibited widely internationally at the Singapore Art Museum, the National Gallery Singapore, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, Toulouse, France, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia, Galerie Mirchadani & Steinruecke, Bombay, India, the Modern Art Museum, Paris, France, and many others.

His works are in the collections of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam, The Singapore Art Museum and the ASU Art Museum, USA.

Self Portrait 1994
This Self Portrait 1994 is one of the early works he created on his first returning trips to Vietnam. Evidence of his western lifestyle and arts training co mingles with his delight and discovery of a new Vietnam.