Painters Hoang Vo and Duc Giang 'dialogue' with emotions and contemplation

"Like two waves from two ends of the country, Hoang Vo and Duc Giang meet at the Saigon River - the third river of harmony and creativity. They have different sources, different alluvial streams, but they both caress the same shore - the shore of painting, of humanity, of belief in beauty", curator Phan Trong Van commented.

On the afternoon of October 31 at Maii Art Space (72/7 Tran Quoc Toan, Xuan Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), painters Hoang Vo and Duc Giang (both born in 1969) will have a joint exhibition Hi.69 , introducing selected works of the two authors to the southern art-loving public.

Viewers will have the opportunity to meet the brainchildren of an artist imbued with the sunlight of the Mekong Delta and works bearing the brown color of the Red River alluvium and sediments of ancient Bat Trang pottery.

Hoang Vo's paintings are rich in rhythm, strong in color and brushwork.

In his writing, Hoang Vo chooses to let go to find another language, more abstract and emotional.

The work "City by the River Like a Whisper" by artist Hoang Vo

Photo: NVCC

Hoang Vo and Duc Giang: drawing with the rhythm of life, drawing with memories

Hoang Vo's paintings are rich in rhythm, strong in color and brushwork, expressing a spirit of free living, enthusiasm and energy. Having taught drawing for many years, Hoang Vo understands the value of structure and form, but in his creations, he chooses to let go to find another language, more abstract and emotional. It is this contrast that makes his paintings carry an inner tension: between reason and instinct, between rules and freedom.

Painter Hoang Vo confided: "Underneath the strong layers of paint, there is still a pause, where the light softens and emotions settle down. I paint as a way to sustain life, work every day, and find joy in the act of creation. Painting is not to illustrate ideas, but to let me live fully in the rhythm of color and energy."

Hoang Vo with a strong Southern character

Photo: NVCC

Duc Giang has the deep and calm features of Hanoi people.

Photo: NVCC

Duc Giang chose to go into the depths of emotion, where colors, materials and surfaces become language instead of words.

One paints with the rhythm of life, the other paints with memory, but both meet at a common point: honesty with emotions, considering painting as a way of life rather than a goal.

Looking at Hoang Vo's paintings, viewers seem to be infused with positive, straightforward energy and the "big brother Saigon" character, while Duc Giang's paintings open up a subtle, profound and calm space of Hanoi people. When placed side by side, these two artistic voices are not opposed but complementary, creating a natural dialogue between movement and silence, between emotion and contemplation.

Duc Giang's paintings have a calmness as deep as the surface of water in a windless moment...

...and materials and surfaces become language instead of words.

Photo: NVCC

"For me, painting is a way to listen to myself, not to talk. Every time I paint, I just hope to find the most genuine feeling of a state, sometimes a distant memory, sometimes just a fleeting emotion that has not yet been named. The brushwork does not need to be strong, just enough to touch the slight tremor of emotion," painter Duc Giang shared.

"We brothers are like waves hitting the shore together / Though from different sources, we still reach the same ocean" (musician Tran Tien).   Those two lyrics are the spirit of Hi.69 . A reunion of two artists of the same age, two lands, flowing together in a borderless river of creativity", curator, artist Phan Trong Van .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoa-si-hoang-vo-va-duc-giang-doi-thoai-bang-cam-xuc-va-chiem-nghiem-185251030084911289.htm