Artist Pham Huy Thong, one of Vietnam’s most articulate and talented young artists, will hold an exhibition named “Hope – Full” at Craig Thomas Gallery in District 1 of HCMC from November 2 to 21.

“Clouds Cross Mountain Passes 2”, oil on canvas, one of Thong’s paintings in the series “Hope – Full”, which will be exhibited at Craig Thomas Gallery from November 2 to 21

“Hope – Full” is the continuation of a series of paintings under the title “Hope” that was first exhibited by Thong at the gallery in 2015. The “Hope” and “Hope-Full” series are the latest showing collections of works from an artist still yet to reach forty years old.

According to Craig Thomas Gallery, Thong’s ideas for the “Hope” series began in March 2014 when he met an elderly farmer in his home village that left a strong mental mark on him. Despite a life filled with hard labor and deprivation in the village which had largely been abandoned by the younger generations, this farmer was full of confidence and humorous optimism for the future. This surprising perspective urged Thong to create something about people’s hope and optimism in the Vietnamese society.

To describe people’s emotional worlds between the uncertain future and the hope that rises in their hearts, Thong uses clouds as a symbol of dark and bright thoughts which link real world forms with abstract, spiritual realities.

Humans are the focus of his paintings and hard work is often a necessity for them to live. This motif tempts the viewers to understand the deeper symbolism that does not consist of physical work, but the mental attitude that drives each day.

“Even if I am nominally the creator of my paintings, these creations are just a reflection of the Vietnamese society of which I am a part, a society which is able to survive great difficulties through its immense powers of hope and optimism,” Thong says.

Through his latest series, Thong aims to demonstrate the impressive power of hope as the driving force of mankind, a quality that is uniquely ever-present in the Vietnamese people who have continued to retain their hope through many decades of difficult and often tragic experiences.

SGT