Thanh Minh Nguyen (b. 1971, Vietnam) graduated from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts in 1996 and is considered one of the most influential artists in shaping the development of contemporary art in Vietnam during the 1990s and 2000s. His works carry a meditative, introspective quality deeply rooted in Vietnamese life and culture. Engaging with Buddhist notions of attachment and transcendence, and working primarily with printmaking ink and Chinese ink on dzo paper, Minh Thanh explores themes of family relationships across social, philosophical, and psychological dimensions through portraits of himself, his mother and close ones. He reflects: “I believe that inside each person there is a true and perfect beauty… that beneath our minds lies peace, and from that peace, everything begins.”
Timeline
1971 Born in Hanoi, Vietnam
Currently living in Da Lat, Vietnam
Exhibitions
2011
Hanoi Dreams, The East Gallery, Toronto
2009
Beneath my skin, Shanghai, China
2007
Meditations in Ink, Tama Gallery, New York City, U.S.
2006
Il Dragon e la Farfalla, Arte Contemporanea, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome
2005
The Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell, Bankside Gallery, London, England
2005
Lotus Flower – Art from Vietnam, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki
2005
Waino Aaltonen, Museum of Art, Turku; Hameenlinna Art Museum, Finland
2005
Please Give Me One Object of Yours, in the “Tree Project” of Veronika Radulovik, Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam (solo exhibition)
2004
Vietnam Today, Galerie Amber and Galerie Caro, Leiden, Holland
2004
A Grain of Dust, A Drop of Water, Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
2003
Contemporary Vietnamese Painting, The Ace Gallery, Bermuda
2003
Subverted Boundaries, Cross-Bike-Airplane, Sculpture Square, Singapore
2000
Group Exhibition, Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, New Zealand
1999
Gap Vietnam, House of World Cultures, Berlin
1999
Triennial of Asian Contemporary Art, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
1999
Memory-Spirit-Pollution, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1999
Night Watch, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
1999
Mother and Son, Third Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, Australia
1999
Nine Lives, Casula Power House, Sydney, Australia
1999
Letters for my Mother, Gallery of Artists Unlimited, Brelegeld, Germany (solo exhibition)
1999
My Face, Gallery Witrevin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo exhibition)
1999
One Road, Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam (solo exhibition)
1998
Vietnam Express, Travelling Exhibition, Norway
1998
Spirit of Hanoi I and II, Helsinki/Oulu, Finland
1998
Printemps Vietnamien – Pavilion des Art, Paris
1998
Vietnam Today, Contemporary South-east Asian Art, San Francisco
1998
3 aus Hanoi, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany
1997
Plastic Waste, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
1997
Tour Japan, Mizumi Gallery, Tokyo
1995
Safe Distance, Singapore, Bielefeld, Frankfurt
1995
Escape, Paul Ricard, Paris (solo exhibition)
1994
Students of the Fine Art University Exhibition, German Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam
Public Collections
National Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Ace Corporation, Bermuda
World Bank