COLOURS: Tạm Dừng Và Cúc Cu (Pause and Cuckoo) sized at 195.5cm by 160.5cm. — VNS Photos Nguyen Binh

The exhibition, entitled Mười Ba - 13 (Thirteen - 13), includes 13 large paintings. Hiep likes the number 13 because it is his birthday.

The paintings are bold and bright, ensuring visitors were treated to a surrealist visual feast at the opening ceremony on September 27. Additionally, the exhibition includes eight small statues, all of which are pink featuring Hiep in a suit with two wings.

Hiep includes the frame as part of the painting. He draws on the frame, ensuring it is an inseparable piece of the work.

SURREAL: Em Nói Tình Yêu Là Con Tàu (She Said Love is Like a Ship) measuring 214cm by 174cm.

The artist likes using a lot of materials and combinations of colours in one painting.

One painting, entitled Này Là Hương Rất Thơm (This is Very Fragrant) measures 135cm by 215cm and is acrylic on canvas and wood. The painting is colourful with different shades of pink, green, blue and yellow.

Other works are a combination of oil-on canvas, black lacquer and gold leaves and then inlaid with mother of pearl, such as 1,2,3 Action; Em Nói Tình Yêu Là Con Tàu (She Said Love is Like a Ship) and Tạm Dừng Và... (Pause And...).

"Art is derived from very personal experiences," said established artist Le Thiet Cuong. "Hiep does not use a lot of motifs, but each time he tells another story. Artists' personal experiences are specific and private but they will be art when they tell the story of every one."

Thirteen - 13 is the third solo exhibition for Hiep. He has held group exhibitions in Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and China. He has won awards from the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association; Saigon Biennale and National Young Fine Arts Festival.

The exhibition runs until October 4 at No 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. VNS