A woman’s beauty (and ugliness) beyond her physical features is the theme of an ongoing exhibition of works in Hanoi by artist couple Nguyen Duc Huy and Dang Thi Thu An.

Visitors look at an untitled painting by Dang Thi Thu An.

Called Men Dan Ba (Female Ferment), the exhibition displays 24 artworks by the couple.

While Huy finds the beauty in supposedly plain-looking women, his wife An portrays the ill-naturedness hidden in so-called good looking women.

“We understand that finding a common voice in art creativity is not easy. It’s lucky that we’ve found the same inspiration from women to have this joint exhibition,” An said.

The women in Huy’s paintings are plump and modest, while those in An’s works are slim and fashionable, but display jealousy and vanity.

Huy said he found creative inspiration from his wife, that he saw the ferment in women as something that “encourages people to live and create”.

Huy was born in 1976 in the central province of Quang Binh. He graduated from the Hue University of Fine Arts in 2003. At the beginning of his career, he devoted himself to experimenting, constantly looking for new ways of expression, particularly in abstract and impressionist forms. In 2016, he shifted towards finding decorative visual representations and stylised shapes combined with realism to “find a new perspective and innocence, freeing the power of creativity”.

An was born in 1983 in the same town as her husband. She got a Masters degree in Visual Arts from the Mahasarakham University, Thailand in 2012.

Her solo exhibition Giao Cam (Feeling) in 2013, featuring a dreamy, surreal style, was a great success.

She said she never stops renewing herself with edgier, “sassier” artworks because “painting is a journey of exploration, of renewal and clarity of emotions in the jumbled memories and inner soul of the artist”.

The exhibition will run until January 5 at the Dong A Gallery, 115 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi. — VNS