MIRAGE

Pham An Hai

Copyright Thavibu Gallery All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Layout by Pham An Hai Translated by Nguyen Hanh Dung Edited by Heide Park Charoenporn

Published 2012 by Thavibu Gallery Co., Ltd. Silom Galleria, Suite 308, Floor 3 919/1 Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand Tel: 66 (0) 2 266 5454, Fax: 66 (0) 2 266 5455 Email: info@thavibu.com Website: www.thavibu.com

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FOREWORD
Jrn Middelborg
Thavibu Gallery

I take this opportunity to thank Pham An Hai for his collaboration, and Shireen Naziree for her contribution.

The essay has been written by the Art Historian and Independent Curator, Shireen Naziree.

Pham An Hai is 45 years old and one of Vietnams most internationally recognized artists. He holds a Master of Fine Art from the Hanoi Institute of Fine Art and has taken part in international exhibitions all over Asia, and also in the USA, UK, Italy, Belgium, Dubai and Australia.

His paintings are inspired by landscapes, cityscapes and nature, but he offers his own personal interpretations of these familiar themes. In the current exhibition, Mirage, he focuses on the Lotus because as he says: The Lotus is beautiful and full of emotions it has a delicate, classy beauty and also evokes harmony and is symbolic of Hanoi. I am not describing the Lotus literally in my paintings, but rather through the emotions it evokes in me.

Pham An Hai is one of Southeast Asias foremost painters of abstractions. He is also an excellent painter of figurative art and started out as an artist doing expressionistic paintings and moved on towards abstraction. His oil on canvas works have developed into larger and bolder canvases over the years, layered and richly textured.

Thavibu Gallery has the pleasure of presenting the current catalogue and exhibition, MIRAGE, by the Vietnamese artist, Pham An Hai. The exhibition takes place in Bangkok on 15 September 13 October 2012.

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Shireen Naziree Pham An Hai is an artist who has long recognised the changing nature of art and the role it can play in raising awareness and social conscience. Since his early works in 1998, he has focused on the effects of time and light through his cityscapes of Hanoi a city rich in Vietnamese and French colonial history.

Within Pham An Hais stated commitment to Hanoi, we are encouraged to draw connections across and within the citys cultural and contemporary history. By embracing the Lotus flower it singularly offers an invaluable compass into the history of Vietnam and the cultural psyche of the Vietnamese people. Within the same vein it is also about the nature of reality, and the consequences of living in a city that is fast developing into a modern metropolis. As part of this reality, Pham An Hai has taken the changing vista of Hanoi and likens his desires to the richness of this city with the resilience and beauty of the Lotus flower and indeed the relationship between the two.

MIRAGE: Pham An Hais latest solo exhibition makes for a timely appraisal of his profoundly eclectic practice. MIRAGE represents an articulation of his dreams and desires, as we see a continuity of subject matter in his subtle depictions of Hanoi which is heightened by a more gestural, layered and painterly sense of composition. True to the idea of Mirage with its implied relationship to illusion or vision, Pham An Hai has tied to Hanoi the legendary Lotus flower. Though MIRAGE represents quite a dramatic shift in his visual language, key iconographic elements remain. There is however, a much freer, more layered palette and a new flourish of bold and detailed marks prefigured by previous works.

By alluding to Hanois history, he has created an artistic language that recalls of a time when Hanoi was a tranquil place, yet rich in movements, vibrant colour and light. Hanoi inspired Pham An Hai to dig deep into his soul and create a successive narrative of paintings of a Hanoi he dearly misses.

Through MIRAGE, Pham An Hai has brought a new intensity to his paintings. Through years of working with the same subject, his paintings have acquired a palpable poetic conviction. Though he continues to compose beautiful paintings, he exemplifies the rule that the best painters are always engaged in a learning process, at which they almost always get better. Pham An Hai has over the years progressed with his own visions and innovations. Through compositional elements, adept layering, as well as strong complimentary and contrasting colours, his works produce a strength that prove that painting remains a strong tradition.

While Pham An Hai assumes an exotic stance of nostalgia into the historical context of Hanoi his art remains a reminder that all around him, the city is slowly being obscured by the shadows of its physical transformation. And, ultimately, it had become an allegory for his own pictorial transformation of the raw reality as he deals with complex questions of Hanois changing identity.

The One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi is a historic Pagoda built in the Ly Dynasty by Emperor Ly Thai To in gratitude to Lord Buddha for the birth of a son in 1094. Built in the Centre of a lotus pond, he had the pagoda designed and constructed like a lotus. Monumental, its base is a single stone pillar and the wooden pagoda designed to resemble an open lotus blossom. An icon that epitomizes the spirit of Hanoi - Pham An Hai has drawn on this cultural symbolism of the One Pillar Pagoda as inspiration and made it part of the present.

The Lotus holds a unique position in the Vietnamese culture. Spiritually, it is the heart of the Vietnamese psyche and features prominently in all aspects of Vietnamese life. And the Lotus has always played a crucial role in the reception of art. Idolized for its intrinsic beauty, but equally important its structure, the formation of petals and its ability to thrive in muddy waters became blueprints in the architecture and construction and thus became a significant icon throughout the various dynasties.

In other words, Pham An Hais oeuvre - multifaceted and morally nuanced, has consistently shown that the most direct route to the past and the present, knowledge and ethics is an indirect one that traverses freely across ideas, enabling him to intellectually trespass philosophical and cultural memory as he taps into the richness of his cultural history that underpins Hanoi and the legendary Lotus, providing an exciting new context in which to realize Hanoi.

Phan Cam Thuong

A: Mirage is the theme of the exhibition, not the presentation. The Lotus flower is the national flower of Vietnam. It is likened to the Vietnamese people who stand resilient through every adversity thrown their way, and manage to still flourish despite their misery and sorrow.

Q: What do you mean by the theme Mirage? Is that your vision of the present, on the past, or your disillusionment?

A: Often times, artists are drawn to depict social issues in their works and I am no different. In abstract art, the depiction may not be as straightforward as in expressionist art, pop art, or some other art forms. Through my new series of works, I want to express a different pattern of life, a desire for a better and more transparent world, as the current reality we live in seems to me like a mirage, especially the social aspects the Vietnamese people go through.

Q: At present, quite a number of Vietnamese artists, especially the younger ones, are eager to reflect contemporary social life more directly in their paintings. What about you? Do you have the same interests in conveying them through your art?

With Pham An Hais forthcoming exhibition, perhaps it would be best to comprehend his thoughts and views through an interview.

With abstract art, the artists style, emotion, as well as his outlook on social life can hardly be recognized through his paintings. What we, art critics, write about are based mainly on intuition, rather than any particular guidelines or instructions. Abstraction is, perhaps, the ultimate stage of fine art, where figurative presentation makes way for rhythms and colors to express themselves freely.

On 15 September 2012, Pham An Hai will once again hold his solo exhibition on abstractions at Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand.

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A: To some extent, a figurative approach is applied in the lotus structures, which is used to develop the composition and theme of the paintings. Q: In that case, is it possible that the abstract effect in the paintings can be weakened? And if so, can we say they are of expressionist abstract type?

Q: It was noticeable in the past that most of your compositions resembled urban structures or gesture variations in nature. In his new selection of works, figurative presentation seems to be restored. Would you like to talk a little further about this renewal?

Pham An Hais current collection of paintings reflects his painful journey back to the inevitable reality.a reality, which to Pham An Hai, appears as a mirage or an obsession that cannot be avoided.

Vietnamese artists, in general, have been working in a very challenging context, both physically and spiritually. Such is a vivid and fertile land for art creation. Nevertheless, an artist can only hope to focus on one aspect of a reality, and dig deep into his soul to search for answers.

A: Many Vietnamese artists have succeeded in portraying that connection between art and society, but the quality of the art is not as good as it could be. Many artists take on the art of dance or theatre, while the language of fine art is still not powerful enough.

Q: Drifting away from the topic, what is your opinion on Vietnamese artists installation and performance art, as well as their ambitions to draw connections across art and society recently?

A: In fact, it is my intention to work on an expressionist abstract theme for this exhibition. I also want to include an Asian presence in my paintings, by means of single colors, single planes and flat pieces. Moreover, I want to eliminate any distance between my paintings and the viewer. I want my works and the viewer to come closer, so they can connect with the paintings without any hindrances.

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Master of Fine Arts Member of Vietnam Fine Arts Association Member of Hanoi Fine Arts Association

Pham An Hai b.1967 and living in Hanoi Vietnam

1992 to 1997, Group exhibition of Vietnams Contemporary painter by Vietnam Fine Arts Association & Hanoi Fine Arts Association, Vietnam Young painter of Vietnam Contemporary (group exhibition) by Young painter of Vietnam club in Hanoi, Vietnam 1998 Coming Spring(group exhibition) in Hanoi, Vietnam Young painter contemporary of Vietnam in Haiphong,Vietnam Selected painting exhibition Vietnam- Asean contemporary artists by Philip Morris Company Group exhibition of Vietnams contemporary painters by Vietnam Fine Arts Association 1999 View from the Inside at Nam Son Art Gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam Group exhibition of Vietnams contemporary painters by Vietnam Fine Arts Association Selected paintings exhibition Vietnam-ASEAN contemporary artists by Philip Morris Company Widening our embrace a Friends Gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam Tears for Central Areas to help the population in central Vietnam by Prudential(U.K) & Name Son Art Gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam 2000 Structure First solo exhibition at Nam Son Art Gallery in Ha noi, Vietnam Vietnam Identities at Sofitel Gallery in Melbourne, Australia Hanoi Fine Arts 2000 at AECE in Hanoi, Vietnam Vietnam Contemporary Fine Arts 2000 at Deawoo Hotel Together with Children at Friends Gallery to help the Childrens in Central Vietnam by CRS (USA)& Friends Gallery organization in Hanoi, Vietnam National Fine Arts exhibition 2000 in Hanoi, Vietnam 2001 Hanoi with Heart and Soul & Mind at Gallery E in Hong Kong The Worlds Premier Contemporary Asian Art fair in Singapore 2002 Group exhibition at Rotunda, Exchange Square, in Hong Kong Fresh Wind at Gallery E in Hong Kong Where the rivers meet Vietnam Cultural Festival, Luxembourg & Continued in Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels. Belgium Abstract View at Nam Son Art Gallery in Hanoi

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012

Space Street Group exhibition at Nam Son Gallery, in Hanoi, Vietnam Abstract Oil & Lacquer at Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand Vietnam Now Group exhibition in Seattle, Washington, USA Vietnam Contermporary Art Group exhibition in Tokyo, Japan National Fine Arts exhibition 2005 in Hanoi, Vietnam Group exhibition in Singapore

Together Group exhibition in Chiangmai, Thailand Dragon & Butter fly Vietnam Festival Culture at Museum Victoriano in Roma, Italy Inside & Outside Solo exhibition in Thavibu Bangkok, Thailand Sosabeol International Art Expo Festival Culture at Sosabeol, Korea

Mirage solo exhibition in Thavibu Gallery Bangkok, Thailand

The Art of T Group exhibiton in Mandarin, Hongkong In focus Solo exhibition in The Red gallery in Dubai, UAE.

The Flow of time solo exhibition in Thavibu Gallery Bangkok, Thailand

Merging the Best of East and West Group exhibition in London, UK

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Award: Honors Certificate by Philip Morris Company in Asean Fine Arts Awards Exhibition in : 1998,1999, 2000 Honors Certificate by Ministry of Culture & Information in Vietnam National Fine Arts Exhibition 2000 Honors Certificate by Vietnam Association Fine Arts in 2003, 2004 Third Price of Vietnam Association Fine Arts in 2004 Honors Certificate by Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum 2007, 2010

Collections by Museum Vietnam Fine Art Museum (2007, 2010) Petronas National Art Gallery of Malaysia Museum (2006)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. Lotus 7. Mirage #1 8. Mirage #2 9. Blue Mist 10. Mirage #3 11. Lotus #1 12. Lotus #2 13. Lotus #3 14. Lotus #4 15. Lotus #5

Lotus #1 Lotus #2 Lotus #3 Lotus #4 Lotus and Woman

Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas

Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Acrylis on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas Oil on canvas

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21. White Mirage 22. Yellow Autumn 23. Summer 24. In side Out side 25. Under Warter 26. Spring Rain 27. Melody of the Street 28. After the Rain 29.Song of Spring 30.White Lotus

16. Lotus #6 17. Mirage of Autumn 18. Lotus Pond 19. Night in the City 20. Mirage

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