Artist Dinh Cong Dat (left) talks about his new work at the Two Friends exhibition - Photo: T. DIEU
Is Dinh Cong Dat still "crazy" on his new path?
Another Dat
The series of sculptures, featuring only basic squares and circles and a single color, that Dinh Cong Dat introduced to the public in the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year) in the exhibition "Two Friends ," together with the Northern Irish artist Rodney Dickson, who lives and works in the US.
Coincidentally, the two friends both presented works that were entirely in black, seemingly going against their previous artistic paths.
Eighteen paintings by Rodney Dickson and sculptures by Dinh Cong Dat feature restrained colors, forms returning to their most basic dimensions, and a conscious rejection of storytelling.
The innovative sculptures by Dinh Cong Dat at the Two Friends exhibition.
In particular, Dinh Cong Dat surprised his friends and art lovers with his unexpected "transformation."
Previously, he was known for his sculptures bearing the hallmarks of traditional aesthetics, vibrant and richly detailed. This time, he presents distinctly restrained sculptural structures, using papier-mâché combined with traditional lacquer.
While previously Dat Kien (another nickname for Dinh Cong Dat) often created small, colorful works, he has now reversed his approach. This time, his works are larger, with simplified, fundamental shapes (squares and circles), using paper and traditional lacquer, and are predominantly black.
For Dinh Cong Dat, this is a major turning point, one that makes him happy, a milestone of surpassing himself.
Dinh Cong Dat (left) and Rodney Dickson (middle) at their joint exhibition - Photo: Provided by the artist.
When Dat Ro loses his cleverness
Dinh Cong Dat recounts that 15 years ago, he confided in his friend (musician Quoc Trung) that he wished an accident would happen to him so he could come up with something new. At that time, he felt he was running out of ideas, constantly repeating himself, which made him "really angry." For all these years, Dinh Cong Dat has longed for and desperately searched for a new path.
"I do all sorts of things, but I'm still repeating myself, still being cunning and calculating. I use my shrewdness and skillful techniques to create something that I know the audience will enthusiastically embrace. Along the way, there are still innovations, but they are innovations in the old ways," said Dinh Cong Dat.
And after years of struggling to find a new path, Dinh Cong Dat has finally found it.
It's a style he describes as "ignoring both the market and art, doing it solely for self-satisfaction." It's purely sculptural and purely classical. Classical forms. Classical materials (paper and lacquer).
Classical technique, without any improvements or innovations, yet that's where the novelty lies. It's an art form that "needs no words, no colors, stripping away all cleverness, cunning, shrewdness, and trickery."
Dinh Cong Dat was "extremely fascinated by this series of works." He realized that art is actually very accessible, very simple, very easy, and anyone can do it.
The innovative sculptures by Dinh Cong Dat at the Two Friends exhibition.
With this series of works, Dinh Cong Dat feels he has moved beyond the descriptive art and visual decoration art he had previously created, to conceptual art, an art that "does not tell a story, does not present a narrative," lacking a literary story and possessing purely visual value.
Having moved beyond a cunning artistic approach, has Dat Ro finally stopped being crazy?
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dat-ro-dinh-cong-dat-da-het-ro-20260215101501798.htm
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