The 30-year-old artist won the top prize for his work 'Temporary Bond'.

W-0101 sv.jpg — Artist Cao Van Thuc won the top prize in the "Established Artist" category.

The UOB Painting of the Year competition has just announced its awards ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City. Artist Cao Van Thuc, with his work "Temporary Connection," beat out many other entries to win the top prize - " Established Artist ."

The painting was created using lacquer and acid etching techniques on aluminum alloy. The work expresses the artist's deep empathy for the working class.

He wanted to portray the lives of people displaced by the struggle for survival, the spirit of human solidarity, and the process of urbanization in large cities, through the lens of contemporary materials and techniques.

batch_1. UOB Painting of the Year Cao Văn Thục.jpg — The artwork "Temporary Bond" by artist Cao Van Thuc.

Through his work, Cao Van Thuc hopes to inspire people to reflect and contribute to bridging social gaps through understanding, tolerance, and empathy. The judging panel highly appreciated the work for its emotion, creativity, and social message.

Winning the competition's top prize, artist Cao Van Thuc received a cash prize of 500 million VND.

His artwork has also been submitted to compete alongside winning entries from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand for the Southeast Asia Regional Prize 2025. The awards ceremony will be held in Singapore in November.

W-02 sv.jpg — Artist Nguyen Ngoc Thuan became the oldest author to win an award in this year's competition.

Author Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, 53 years old, received the Most Promising Artist award for his work Self-Portrait, 2025 (Life takes root in me in the shadow of a tree).

The painting, done with acrylics on canvas, is inspired by chest X-ray images and the ICD (defibrillator) device that has been implanted in his body for the past decade.

The author states that it's never too late to start. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan studied and became an artist 22 years ago before unexpectedly switching careers to become a writer.

A few months ago, he decided to return to painting. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan describes his artwork as reflecting his own life, a reactivation of his spirit.

batch_1. Most Promising Artist of 2025 Nguyen Ngoc Thuan.jpg — The painting is inspired by chest X-ray images and the ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) device used by the artist, Nguyen Ngoc Thuan.

"That painting is like my life; it helped me reactivate my will to live. During my 10 years in the hospital, my immune system weakened, at times its level was almost zero."

"That's why I've had very limited contact with people for many years. After my health stabilized, I decided to return to painting," he recounted.

This is the third time the UOB Painting of the Year competition has been held in Vietnam, as part of a series of programs aimed at discovering and developing talent in the region.

Mr. Dang Xuan Hoa - Chairman of the Painting Art Council, Vietnam Fine Arts Association, and Head of the Judging Panel of the competition - said that the competition contributes to creating momentum for the development of fine arts in the country, while also harmonizing with the common voice of fine arts in the region.

Mr. Hoa expressed his delight that through the competition, he saw a generation of young people in contemporary art with a daring mindset – daring to think, daring to act, and daring to express themselves. Their spirit and passion were fully expressed in the works submitted to this year's competition.

He also hoped they would see the good things in life, love for their homeland, etc., and use that to explore in their works and spread it widely.

Some of the winning entries in the competition.