VietNamNet Bridge – For Nha Trang-based artist Nguyen Lieu, the conical hat of Viet Nam has more than iconic value.

Life and fate: Two artworks by artist Nguyen Lieu on display at his first solo exhibition in HCM City.
He sees them as a metaphor for the industrious lifestyle and destiny of the farmers.

"To me, the hat represents a person's life and fate," Lieu said.

Non (hat) is the theme of Lieu's first solo exhibition, which opens at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum today.

The exhibition displays 20-oil-on-canvas paintings featuring scarecrows in colourful clothes and non la to depict images of Vietnamese farmers.

Cold and hot colours like red and blue describe the evenings and afternoons when the farmers are still in the fields. All the works are titled Non and numbered from 7 to 26.

Lieu graduated from the HCM City Fine Arts College in 1989, and has worked as an interior and decoration designer since graduation.

He has held five solo exhibitions in Khanh Hoa Province's Nha Trang City and several group exhibitions in Viet Nam and France.

He was received several awards from the Khanh Hoa Literature and Arts Association from 2001 to 2005 and one from the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association in 2004.

The exhibition will remain open until December 31 at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum at 97A Pho Duc Chinh, District 1.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News