VietNamNet Bridge – Evolution, a solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures by city-based artist Luong Luu Bien, on Thursday opened at Craig Thomas Gallery in District 2.

Artist Luong Luu Bien paints his work Ballerina at his studio in Phu Nhuan District.

Perhaps lovers of Bien’s painting often think of a heavy and melancholy tone that has been the hallmark of his earlier work. But now with this his latest collection, Bien takes viewers on another emotional level with radiated feelings of lightness, movement and, in certain cases, unrestrained joy. What has not changed is the artist’s unique style which employs techniques learned studying lacquer painting to create mixed media works that have the effect of being sculptures painted onto canvas.

The characters portrayed in Bien’s paintings – often depicted naked – are placed in a world devoid of any context but color. Bien said: “I am intrigued by a theater movement I once heard of where the actors put on plays without any costumes or make-up and yet still manage to make audiences lose themselves in the story. I feel the same way about my paintings. The artistic language of my paintings should be enough to create a mood or mental state and there is no need for clothing or imagery to clarify things any more than that. I am more concerned with viewers ‘feeling’ my paintings than I am with their ‘understanding’ of them.” Bien added that characters in his paintings are unidentified and are maybe someone he knows or doesn’t know, who inspire him about the fate of human beings, about social issues and about the journey to discover who he really is and who they really are.

The paintings of Evolution indicate that Bien’s mental state has changed greatly in the ensuing three years since his last solo exhibition. While the paintings of Fossils were static and the subjects often seemed imprisoned in their tightly bound worlds, Bien’s new work is all flow, warmth and freedom. In Wave, a young woman floats in a blue sea but her body is taut, poised as if she is about to spring forth from the waves. In Ballerina 1, Ballerina 2, and several other pieces, Bien expertly conveys the movement and grace of the dancer. The individual figures of the two lovers in Love are so thoroughly intertwined in their embrace that their bodies are indistinguishable save for their feet and hands.

Evolution marks the first time that Bien has exhibited sculpture, once again bringing visitors to the world of melancholy and pain. Created in his home Dong Nai Province, the six heads of the collection were fashioned free hand by Bien from terracotta. When lightly struck they produce a clear metallic ping, evidence of a successful firing which has left no damage or cracking. The finished sculptures of Evolution are raw and filled with cuts and gashes that disfigure their appearance. Their scars and mutilations are metaphors for the wounds that we all carry on the inside.

“Actually the heads scare me so much, as all of them are not perfect faces with many cuts and cicatrix. However, staring at them, I sense as if I am facing real people who are suffering pain, scars of life, experiences as well as ups and downs. The one thing is that their mouths are closed, I wonder if they are too miserable to talk out or they are too arrogant to talk to someone,” said Mat Nau, a visitor to the show.

With the paintings and sculptures of Evolution, Bien shows not only his emotional range but also his artistic versatility through his use of various media in his paintings and in his bold first statement as a sculptor. The overall result is an engaging portrayal of the rawness of human nature and a peek into the often painful and destructive process that must be passed through to create something new and beautiful.

He said: “I can feel some happiness around me but I am still stuck in melancholy of the collapse, corruption, lost and tumble. All will be the elements for a progress of break-up and union of a person, a family and a society.”

The works will be moved to Craig Thomas Gallery’s main exhibition space at 27i Tran Nhat Duat Street, District 1 tomorrow and displayed until December 29.

Source: SGT