VietNamNet Bridge – Inspired by American writer Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” book, the exhibition of the same name introduces paintings about love by Vietnamese, French and British artists.


“Fly” by Truong Tan.
Painters who joined the exhibition are: Truong Tan, Nguyen Minh Thanh, Nguyen Quang Huy of Vietnam, Tracey Emin of the UK and Louis Bourgeois of France.

Paintings are simple but contain complicated feelings, loneliness and vehement passion and all of them are about love.

The exhibition marks the return of painter Truong Tan after a long time of absence in Hanoi.

In Nguyen Quang Huy’s paintings, nameless women are submerged by broken dreams and crackled reality but in the figure of powerful angles, they never fall and never give up.


“Far-off flavor” by Nguyen Minh Thanh.
For Nguyen Minh Thanh, in quiet paintings, he questions whether love can fill up gaps in soul?

In Truong Tan’s paintings, which were created in 1993-1994, love is always both fierce and gentle. The good and the bad are always inside each individual.

Truong Tan, Nguyen Minh Thanh and Nguyen Quang Huy are artists of the golden generation of Vietnam’s contemporary fine-art. They participated in famous periodical exhibitions of the world like Fukuoka Asian Art Trienniale, Singapore Biennale and IFA gallery. Truong Tan is among rare artists who have influenced many generations of contemporary artists in Vietnam.

Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin contribute other aspects of love to the exhibition, with loneliness, lust and the fear of being abandoned.


“No Name” by Nguyen Quang Huy.
Louise Bourgeois is a visual artist who has contributed highly to modern and contemporary art. Tracey Emin is among the most successful contemporary artists in the UK.

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” is a collection of 17 short stories by Raymond Carver, translated into Vietnamese by Duong Tuong and Nguyen Hanh Quyen. The book has inspired the five painters to create paintings in the exhibition of the same name.

The exhibition opened on September 20, at Bui Gallery, 23 Ngo Van So, Hanoi and will last until November 15.

PV