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Hong Viet Dung

Biography

Hong Viet Dung was born in 1962 in Hanoi and graduated with a degree in Painting from the Hanoi Industrial College of Fine Art in 1984. Hong has exhibited in several countries including Russia, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Norway, USA, Australia and Great Britain. He has also participated in the Europ'Art International Art Fair in Geneva, Switzerland. Hong held a retrospective of work in the collection of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum and SIngapore Art Museum. His works have also been auctioned in international auction houses like Christies.

In Hong's works, he uses pale and distinctly muted colours to bring a sense of calm to his viewers. He only brings in the essentials to the foreground allowing the viewer to use them as a stage for creating his or her own images and reflecting upon them. It is said that his works are reflective of the artist's introspective nature.

In the present work Ha Long Bay, the subject matter does more than remind the viewer of the Vietnamese national treasure which has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site ad is a leading tourist destination. It emanates a quiet charm immediately apparent to the viewer, an irony considering the legendary origins of the bay. According to local tradition, 'Ha Long' is translated literally as the 'Bay of descending Dragons'. In an attempt to save the Vietnamese people from foreign invasion, these dragons spewed pearls that formed the scattered limestone structures of today, preventing the invaders form approaching. The thrashing chaos that made this story is where the artist has painted peace and tranquility, thinly veiled in a shade of grey, almost like a protective slip from any disorder. Hong Viet Dung's compositions are not complicated, with this simplicity extracting and emoting the very essence of the work to the viewer.

Like Hong once said: "I always paint people and views that surround me. This simple beauty is lyrical. In my paintings, I like to reduce details, according to the Eastern Style."

Collection

Vietnam Fine Art Museum
Singapore Fine Art Musuem
HRH The Duke of York

Selected Exhibitions

2012 From Brush to Block, Midtown Arts Common, New York, NY
2010 Vietnamese Art Today, Midtown Arts Common, New York, NY
2008 Tranquility: Paintings by Hong Viet Dung, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY (solo)
2006 Impression & Expressions, Vietnamese Contemporary Paintings, Thailand
2004 Tradition And Change: Vietnamese Art Today, Embassy of Vietnam to the United States of America, Washington, D.C.(group)
2002 Where the Rivers Meet, Vietnamese Cultural Festival, Luxembourg and continued at Libre de Bruxelless University, Brussels, Belgium
2001 Vietnam Inspiration, Santa Barbara, USA (group)
2000 Europe d`Art -PalExpo 2000 Geneva, Switzerland
Europe d`Art 2000, Barcelona, Spain
1997 Europe Art Geneva, International Art Fair, Geneva, Switzerland
1995 Hong Viet Dung: Solo Exhibition, Substation Gallery, Singapore (solo)
1990 National Fine Art Exhibition, Hanoi, Vietnam

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