Director Tran Anh Hung's wife opens domestic exhibition

Ho Chi Minh City - Tran Nu Yen Khe - wife of director Tran Anh Hung - launched her first solo exhibition, from October 24 to December 9.

The works in the White Blank exhibition include paintings and sculptures, created by the artist from 2021 to present, in Paris (France) and Ho Chi Minh City. Yen Khe said that he did not try to express a specific message, but used abstract images to describe the complexity and contradictions in human behavior. Through the program, Yen Khe wants to bring contemporary art closer to everyone.

WB.9B from the White Blank sculpture series by Tran Nu Yen Khe, made from cast bronze and oil paint, measures 51.5x101x30 cm. Photo: Galerie Quynh — *The work "WB.9B" in the "White Blank" sculpture series by Tran Nu Yen Khe, made from cast bronze and oil paint, measures 51.5x101x30 cm. Photo: Galerie Quynh*

The works cover a wide range of themes and are created using a variety of materials. The White Blank sculpture series is made from plaster, cast bronze and composite materials. The series Between Certainty and Doubt is painted on mulberry paper, then layered with raw linen. With the paintings on Do paper - called Wind , Yen Khe creates many colorful shapes.

The artist was inspired by the quote by painter Wassily Kandinsky: "White sounds like silence, the void before every beginning." According to Yen Khe, the shape of the work evokes the primitiveness of trees and the ocean, helping viewers retain many emotions when observing.

*Tran Nu Yen Khe paints on mulberry paper. Photo: Galerie Quynh*

Tran Nu Yen Khe , 55 years old, graduated in interior design from the private school École Camondo, one of the most prestigious art schools in France. In addition to acting in the works of her husband - director Tran Anh Hung , the artist also prepares filming sets for films. She used to work set designer for Cyclo (1995), art and costume designer for Norwegian Wood (2010), worked as a film designer for Eternity (2016), and art director for The Pot au Feu (2023).

She has been creating art for more than three decades and was nominated for Best Designer at the 2015 Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. Yen Khe's lacquer painting Borderline (2018) was acquired by the Musée Guimet (France) in 2019, becoming the first Southeast Asian contemporary artwork to be included in the French National Collection.