Human body is the best canvas for painting: artist

Artist Phuong Vu Manh (L) is painting on nude body of a model

Two illustrious body-painting artists Phuong Vu Manh and Ngo Luc discuss their love for and beauty of the art, which – like nude photography and body tattooing – is developing discreetly in conservative Vietnam.

As Manh hails from the northern capital of Hanoi and Luc from Ho Chi Minh City down south, the two’s viewpoints could be seen as representative of two regions and two styles.

Can you describe briefly what body painting is?

PVM: Body painting highlights the sympathy between human beings, between models and artists who combine together in their effort to seek perfect value.

NL: Body painting is the harmonious combination of human body, painting and sexual desire.

What are your ideas of the remark that it is more inspiring to paint on the body of a nude or semi-nude girl?

PVM: Not wrong. It’s a wonderful job to paint on the body of a nude girl because I can then express my ideas through the paintbrush and discuss with her – the model – about our perceptions of art, life as well as the outlook on politics and society.

You see, no canvas can bring me such feelings.

NL: To be frank, painting on a human body is inspiring and it’s even more so when you do it on the body of a person of the opposite sex.

If it’s the desire for sex, I will drop my brush.

What do you think about the idea that body painting is obscene?

PVM: Give them [critics] more info about the developments of body painting.

NL: I never think of it that way. Those who do think will not make that statement.

 

What is the difference of painting on a human body and on a canvas?

PVM: The best-ever canvas on earth is the human body and the body itself is the masterpiece of the Creator. And the artist just makes it look different with colors and patterns to display his/her perception.

NL: It’s much different. Human body is itself a wonderful work of art and the artist can just honor it.

A work of body painting can last for a couple of hours and then will be washed out. What do you think about its short life?

PVM: Body painting can actually survive longer with photography and filming. And I believe that in a not so far future, lovers of the art will search for collections of images of body painting.

In developed countries, an artist of body painting can earn from US$500 - US$5,000 by painting a piece of art. Some others work for media and advertisement firms with a handsome income of $1,000 an hour.

But it’s not the case in Vietnam now.

NL: The short-lived survival applies not only to body painting. For me, I make some small sum from body painting.

Do sponsors help?

PVM: My body painting events got sponsored. However, an artist needs their own work of art and then, I have to cover all costs.

NL: I see a clear border between doing a job to earn my livings and doing other things for my passion.

Anyway, you always need sponsors to be successful with body painting.

Do feelings of sexual sensation survive while you are painting on a body? And how does it help in making a great artwork?

PVM: I am a man and an artist. Either a man or an artist knows how to respect and honor natural beauty, especially the charming bodies of women. So both of the feelings intertwine to make up my feelings and urge me to draw.

But after a moment, I would forget I am a man and my feelings of an artist would rule until I complete my artwork.

NL: Nothing can stop sexual desire but it grows just only enough to make my feelings soar high and nothing more.

Artist Ngo Luc (R) is creating patterns on the body of a foreign model

 

You paint not only on men and women, but also on buffalos

PVM: It’s different to draw on the body of a buffalo. Its hairs are stiff and so you need more labor to make the ink adhere. And a buffalo can hardly understand you so you must understand him.

NL: For me, I like it best when I paint on the body of a woman.

Bio of artists Ngo Luc and Phuong Vu Manh Phuong Vu Manh, 42, graduated from the Hanoi Fine Art University in 1998 and has taken part in 40 exhibitions. Not only making body painting, he works on oil paintings, and lacquers. Ngo Luc, 32, graduated from the HCMC Fine Art University and becomes well known for his involvement in contemporary visual art.   A pattern created on model Hanh Quyen by artist Ngo Luc

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When the body is a work of art

Artist Ngo Luc is creating an artwork on the nude body of model Hanh Quyen

Body painting, a favorite art in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia, is slowly asserting its official status in conservative Vietnam after the art was debuted less than a year ago at the Hanoi-based French cultural center L’Espace.

It was only in March last year when nude or semi-nude models had their bodies painted with various patterns and colors to be presented to the public eye.

One month later, another official public display of body painting was held at an exhibition center at No 16 Ngo Quyen Street in Hanoi.

Previously, body painting events had been organized on a pilot and informal basis behind half-closed doors.

Despite its official status now, the art is yet to make its way into art school curricula in the nation, while artists performing the art are either amateurs or self-learners from documents on Internet.

Now, all exhibitions are held at places with limited entrance like a small gallery or a bar accommodating no more than 20 people.

Meanwhile, there are not that many body painting artists and they can be listed as Ngo Luc, Phuong Vu Manh, Dao Anh Khanh, Truong Tan, Bui Cong Khanh and Nhu Huy.

A local artist admitted that body painting in Vietnam is just in its embryonic period of development but will grow as lovers of the art are forming forums and clubs with an open-minded outlook.

Artist Phuong Vu Manh, 42, from Hanoi said he has organized over 30 shows of body painting to rave reviews from fans. Another artist Ngo Luc, 32, from Ho Chi Minh City has presented some 15.

 

A pattern created by artist Ngo Luc on model Kim Ngan

Recently, more and more young girls are willing to display their bare backs and hands painted with different colors and patterns as a way of self-assertion, according to Luc.

Body painting started in the 1930s but a strong revival took place in Western society in the 1960s, in part prompted by the liberalization of social mores regarding nudity.
Many World Body Painting Festivals have been held across the world for decades.

Nowadays, it is a favorite art in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia.

Followings are some other images of body painting by artist Ngo Luc:

 

 

Patterns on nude body of model Vinh Nghi

 

And on nude body of model Hanh Quyen

Model Lam Uyen

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Hue artists get ready for the Year of the Cat

Cat scratch fever: A cat brings luck to families that want children (painting by Dang Mau Tuu).     Blue rider: A painting by Dang Mau Tuu tells the story of the battle between a tiger and a cat.

THUA THIEN HUE — As a custom among artists living in Hue to celebrate Tet, artists are making cat drawings for an annual exhibition to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Cat.

The exhibition shows paintings of creatures that symbolise each 12-year cycle, including dragons, rats, horses, dogs, tigers and goats.

While veteran artists depict the cat successfully fighting a rat, young artists prefer to show the cat's speed and dynamism.

In the Eastern viewpoint, the cat and rat are considered natural enemies.

In Tran Van Mang's painting, the cat sits in a corner of a kitchen spying on some rats, and in Vinh Phoi's painting a cat is shown killing a rat.

On the other hand, young artist Vo Xuan Huy uses an abstract style to express a young cat that symbolises the beginning of the new year.

Artist Dang Mau Tuu in his works tells of a legendary tale of a tiger and a cat, in which the cat teaches the tiger many things, except for climbing trees.

However, after being trained, the tiger uses his new skills to attack the cat but fails when the cat climbs up an areca tree.

Tuu's message is that keeping one's own identity will help people stand firm in case of calamity.

He said the massage is significant in the context of globalisation.

Tuu, who is also chairman of Thua Thien-Hue Province's Association of Art and Culture, said the exhibit offered the community a chance to think about the possibilities of the upcoming year.

The first exhibition of this kind was held in Hue in 1999, he said. Late artist Buu Chi was one of the most popular artists of this genre, and the community applauded his work for its creativity and philosophical expression. — VNS

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Painting by King Ham Nghi auctions in Paris

The painting Declin du jour by Ham Nghi King to be auctioned in Paris on Wednesday

A painting by Vietnam’s Emperor Ham Nghi (1872-1943) will go on auction in Paris on Wednesday, November 24, reports Tuoi Tre.

Bidding will start at 800-1200 euro.

According to the website Millon & Associe, the king painted the small oil on canvas painting called Déclin du jour (Sunset) in 1915 while he was living in the Gia Long Villa in the  Algerian capital of Alger.

Phan Thanh Hai, deputy director of Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said he expects other paintings of the king to come on auction in Paris in the future.

Ham Nghi was the eighth Emperor in Vietnam’s Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). He ruled for only one year (1884-1885). Together with Emperors Thanh Thai and Duy Tan, Ham Nghi orchestrated several revolts against the French colonists. In 1885, he led the Can Vuong uprising.

Ham Nghi was arrested by the French and exiled to Algeria in 1888. He died in 1943 and was buried in Aquitaine, France in 1965.

Most cities in Vietnam have major streets bearing his name.

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Culture Vulture

Artist Pham Tuan Tu is one of eight artists recently selected by the Denmark Cultural Development Exchange Fund for its Talent Prize 2010. Born in 1981, Tu is a graduate of the Ha Noi University of Industrial Fine Arts and is a member of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association's Young Artist Club. Tu spoke to Culture Vulture about his first solo exhibition and about the theme of sexual ambiguity that appears in his work.

Why do you think your work was chosen?

I get feedback from viewers, and I think that they have strange feelings when they look at my paintings. They are curious to see something which rarely appears in painting.

Of the eight painters who won, I like the most the paintings by Nguyen Xuan Hoang. His ideas and forms of expression are very particular. He puts a prosaic object (a chair) in his works but shows its particular aesthetics.

Do you usually paint on the theme of homosexuality?

I paint homosexual subjects because it attracts me. It is one of many themes I want to touch upon. Contradiction between social preconception and instinct makes for a miserable fate, especially for homosexual people.

I think that sex cannot exist as an independent entity. It is a dependent factor and is governed not only by chromosomes but by many other factors like psychology, living environment, habit and nature.

When I began to know about homosexual people, I thought unconsciously about them and their lives. I don't know what urged me try to understand them.

I'm interested in many human interest subjects. In my latest painting, In Life, which will be displayed at the coming National Fine Arts Exhibition, I looked at enjoyment. In another painting, A Memorial Afternoon, which was exhibited by the Young Painters Club last June, I depicted death, or the different ways people die. Not a bodily death, but a mental death.

I have focused on many other subjects in my exhibition.

Do you know how the lesbian and gay community responds to your work?

I have received a lot of feedback from people who have seen the paintings. I think that they should not been seen negatively, but I don't mind. My works are my individual viewpoint. I don't impose my thoughts on theirs.

This is your first solo exhibition. How do you feel about it?

I usually participate in annual exhibitions by the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association, or in groups of independent artists. So this will be the first solo exhibition in my career. It will be a good chance for me to improve myself.

I have had to think a lot about it. I didn't have a specific theme. I want to present the contradictions in modern society. I want to comprehend my individual thoughts with a view to creating new works. I will try to fully express my ideas in various forms.

How long does it take you to complete a painting? Will you sell them?

I paint very quickly. The three paintings Gay, Uni-sex and Mud were made in 2008. The painting In Front of the Mirror, I painted this year. All are acrylic on canvas. Right after finishing them, I was very satisfied with them. But that was at that time.

All the paintings are for sale. — VNS

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Rung celebrates 50 years of painting

A visitor looks at a nude painting by artist Rung at Tu Do Gallery in HCMC- Photo: My Tran

A painting exhibition by artist Rung will open at Tu Do Galley, 53 Ho Tung Mau Street in HCMC’s District 1 on Thursday, to mark his half century of painting.

The exhibition will feature 16 oil paintings on canvas, a pottery work, a print of painting that was produced in 1965 but since lost and 17 photos of paintings by the artist from 1986 to 1991.

This exhibition displays works from Rung’s exhibition last year “Thanksgiving for Woman”. Works include nudes, flowers and fields of dreaming with rainbows and clouds.

Viewers will see many images of female nudes flying through scenes of stars, gardens and vaporous spaces.

“Women’s beauty is always my big inspiration. Their beauty makes me fly and urges me to paint to express my admiration, my love, my respect and my passion for women,” said Rung.

War is also another inspiration for Rung, not only in paintings, but also in most of his stories published in the U.S.

Rung said he plans to open a class in HCMC to teach people how to use colors to relax, to enjoy their hobby, and express their emotions . “People have a lot of ways to relax and express their feelings such as singing, playing piano, cooking but they do not know that using colors is also an ideal way to bare the emotion.” The painter, who held his first exhibition in 1960, added that 50 years is a long time to live but is very short for the arts, so he will continue to paint and to write until the last breath.

Born in 1942, Rung was born Nguyen Tuan Khanh. Since his first show, he has had 21 solo exhibitions and joined 30 group exhibitions in Vietnam and abroad. Rung has held about eight solo exhibitions in Vietnam. He has lived in California since 1994.

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Paint by the bay like Monet

The famous lighthouse on Ke Ga Bay - Photo: Mong Binh

An American Vietnamese artist will hold an open-air landscape painting workshop from November 10-14 at Princess d’Annam Resort and Spa on Ke Ga Bay in Binh Thuan Province.

For four days, the San Francisco-born Tammy Nguyen will set up the class’s easels on the shores of the Bay with views of the beautiful shoreline and famous lighthouse.

Jean-Philippe Beghin, general manager of the resort, expects the first annual Painter’s Retreat workshop and package would attract art beginners from Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere in the region.

“Everyone who visits Ke Ga Bay leaves with an impression of this spectacular natural landscape,” Beghin said. “Now, with guidance from a renowned American art instructor, Tammy Nguyen, they’ll have the opportunity to leave with their own painting of it.”

Nguyen is a graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City and traveled to Vietnam on a Fulbright Grant to study traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting in 2007. Her preferred medium is oil, but her investigations of Vietnamese culture have journeyed through lacquer, silk and even embroidery.

“En plein air (outdoor) painting has been enormously influential in Vietnam and continues to inspire many of Thursday’s young artists,” Nguyen said in a statement. “Monet and Renoir were guiding stars for such Vietnamese masters as Nguyen Sang, Bui Xuan Phai, and Nguyen Gia Tri, and on Thursday for many of Vietnam’s fledgling painters.”

Beghin said resorts these days needed to do more than be a blank canvas for someone’s holiday. “We need to provide the tools for the making of memories as well, and this Painters’ Retreat is our gambit.”

Nguyen will work with students to develop texture, color and light. The workshop allows for communal instruction and one-on-one assessments and assistance by Nguyen who has had students in the United States and Vietnam.

The brushes, oil paints, linseed oil, smoks and easels are included. At the end of the retreat, students will be able to share their artworks and experiences in a salon show.

The US$1,525 package covers three four-hour seminars, art materials, three-nights’ accommodation, daily breakfast, two cocktail dinners with the instructor and a spa treatment. Additional charges for supplementary guests sharing the same room, but not the workshop, are US$240 per person.

For more information, call the resort’s marketing director Zulkifli Rahman on (08) 3845 5990 or email dosm@princessannam.com.

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