Naming the collection Small Emotions , artist Ho Hung runs through the theme throughout the subjects he creates - whether it is direct painting or sketching - which is to capture everyday, simple emotions and freely paint with very personal sublimation.
The exhibition space of artist Ho Hung's collection takes place on the ground floor and the first floor of Nha Lam Art Gallery Tea Room, with many medium and small sized watercolor paintings. The topics that he focuses on (most of which are direct drawings) are not limited to any particular subject, they can be very ordinary things such as a loaf of bread, a tray, a grapefruit peel, a motorbike, a handbag, or larger scenes such as the general climate.
The appeal of "the ordinary in the everyday"
Painter Ho Hung shares about his journey with watercolor at the exhibition opening night on July 27
Painter Ho Hung (real name Ho Van Hung, born in 1980), from Nghe An , has been attached to Saigon for 2 decades. At the exhibition opening with mostly friends and experts, he wore a typical Southern scarf and shared intimately about his journey of "wandering around" to paint.
He is one of the young artists who is famous in the Vietnamese painting world, especially watercolor, because of his persistent attachment to this creative material. But from the beginning, the material he started with was oil paint, which is considered more "prestigious". It was during his time in Saigon, since joining a Japanese animation company in 2005, that he gradually discovered the charm of watercolor and chose to stick with it until today.
Ho Hung has been a professional watercolor artist since 2014, a long enough time for him to make a name for himself through his creative works at home and abroad (in 2019, he held his first solo exhibition abroad, the exhibition titled Every Day , held at Pendhapa Art Space, Indonesia, publishing paintings of Vietnamese landscapes).
The picture Sa mua gio captures the stormy moment in the Southwest region very soulfully.
The name Ho Hung emerged in the field of Vietnamese watercolor painting not only because he had the opportunity to study watercolor abroad but also because of his clear awareness of the subject he chose to paint - the ordinary in the endless series of ordinary days. The small and pretty things but hidden in them are everyday stories.
Looking at Ho Hung's watercolor paintings, the appeal is evoked through the quiet but extremely vivid details of the banyan tree, the ferry, the communal house yard, the grapefruit peel, the bundle of straw, the areca tree, the Southern boat... He also pays close attention to the watercolor technique and tries to capture the soul of the object when painting, because he has confided in many previous exhibition events that watercolor painting is a difficult technique. But once the difficulty is overcome, the painting appears as if it were not - natural, not causing discomfort due to the creator's overly elaborate intention.
Autumn Pig painting with size 1.2x1.5m
The painting Sa mua giong displayed at the exhibition is one of his excellent paintings when the artist captured a very dynamic moment of the river scene in the West - the scene of an approaching storm with swirling winds and a dark sky. At that moment, a boat suddenly glided across the stormy river. He confided that the inspiration that came to him when creating this painting was his feeling about the will to live in the midst of nature of the people of the South, even if the wind blows, people still have to live.
The painting Mother depicts a basket with bunches of flowers on top, evoking the familiarity and simplicity of market life associated with Vietnamese women.
Or in another painting with the largest size in the exhibition, Thu heo may , the artist painted a lotus flower at the end of the season, and a female star coming out. What is interesting is that Ho Hung mixed colors and captured the withered scene of the lotus flower, the very expressive slight bow of the female character from the lotus pistil. If Vietnamese folklore has a Tam coming out of a star fruit, then Ho Hung's "star" comes out of a lotus flower about to wither, carrying the sadness of autumn about to pass. He shared that he was more or less inspired by the female characters in the paintings of Mai Trung Thu or Le Pho - famous painters of the Indochina College of Fine Arts.
During the "Southward" trip of painter Ho Hung to pursue his watercolor painting career and this time the "destination" is Nha Lam Art Gallery Tea Room, Ms. Nguyen Giang Xuan - founder of Nha Lam Art Tea Room said: "Nha Lam is very happy to have the opportunity to cooperate with painter Ho Hung and introduce to the public his direct drawings and sketches. Each of his direct drawings is a story, a feeling or a profound contemplation portrayed by delicate brushstrokes and the colors of life around us".
The "expensive" in Ho Hung's watercolor paintings
Mr. Ngo Kim Khoi congratulated painter Ho Hung and shared many valuable perspectives on the painter's works.
Art researcher and collector Ngo Kim Khoi, who follows the art market as well as international art auctions, appeared at the launch and shared many valuable perspectives, capturing the spirit of Ho Hung's watercolor paintings. Thanh Nien interviewed him about this painter.
* Sir, can you share about the watercolor painting technique of painter Ho Hung?
- Researcher Ngo Kim Khoi: I witnessed Ho Hung's creations, because the artist came to my house and drew many direct drawings. Ho Hung's watercolor painting technique is very solid. Honestly, professionals or people in the profession will see this technique very clearly.
Ho Hung is very good at details. He can draw very small straws in a big bundle of straw, or very fragile bamboo leaves in a bamboo bush. He can sit and "trim" every little detail like that.
For oil painting, drawing details is very easy, but when switching to watercolor, this technique is much more difficult. Because when painting watercolor, the artist needs a lot of water, and the characteristic is that watercolor spreads a lot, so the painter must calculate that carefully.
Ho Hung's watercolor paintings have a poetic quality because the artist uses colors very well, and the way he emphasizes the light and dark of the colors. For example, in the stormy scene in Sa mua gio , the artist shows the mood in it even though the level of detail is painted in dots compared to other paintings.
Painter Ho Hung ( middle ) and researcher Ngo Kim Khoi ( right ) in front of the painting Autumn Breeze
* Does the size of the painting determine Ho Hung's watercolor technique, for example, is the largest painting here Thu heo may compared to the other smaller paintings?
- Ho Hung has painted to this level, so size is no longer an issue. The issue here is how the artist puts his soul into the painting. Ho Hung has painted larger paintings like this before, but he painted in great detail, and I didn't expect him to be able to create such a thing. That painting is as "real" as a photograph.
* What do you think about the works of painter Ho Hung?
- Although Ho Hung rarely draws human characters, there is actually a human figure behind them, a story to tell. His good point is that he arouses the curiosity of the viewer, urging them to find a story behind it, not simply "drawing for the sake of drawing".
I really appreciate Ho Hung’s watercolor painting technique. In our country, for a long time, many artists no longer pay attention to watercolor, maybe because of many reasons such as the fragility of watercolor. But it must be admitted that, since Ho Hung founded the watercolor club, many artists have followed his path.
* Thank you and wish you good health!
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-nghien-cuu-ngo-kim-khoi-noi-ve-cai-dat-trong-tranh-mau-nuoc-ho-hung-185240728174152466.htm
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