More than 700 painters are members of the Ho Chi Minh City's Association of Fine Arts. They come from many backgrounds - artists who were in the city before 1975, artists arriving from the resistance bases after the war ended, artists arriving from the north after 1975, graduates from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts after 1975, amateur trainees from private galleries, painters of Chinese origin, and Vietnamese returnees from overseas. This mix gives fine arts in Ho Chi Minh City its special character, which is multi-faceted, open, and dynamic. Some painters delve deeper into the war, while others continue with topics specific to southern Viet Nam, and still others reveal the soul's universal qualities.
These characteristics make Ho Chi Minh City a good environment for graphic artists and their many clubs and associations reflecting different artistic trends and tastes. Sai Gon's fine-arts market has grown quickly since the country opened more than fifteen years ago. Although life in the fine arts has grown busier, individual artists face new challenges. Of course there are those artists who paint only to make money, but there are also those who try to define values for Vietnamese fine arts. Their open exchange with Western, Chinese, American, Cham, Khmer, and Indian arts provides a special influence on art in Sai Gon. Many Sai Gon painters employ symbolism and abstraction to reveal the depth of the soul in a language of modern art with a Vietnamese heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment