On a Friday night, some of my friends and I took the soft-seater 29 train ride from Saigon to Hanoi. On the train, we talked about things over bags of beef jerky and cuddle fish, kilos of grapefruit, cans of pasticcios, jars of pate, and dozens of boiled eggs. Vietnam is a beautiful […]
Category Archives: Art
Mr. Miyagi and Bui Xuan Phai
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I went over to Bac Liem’s and received my first lesson. I arrived returning a book about some Vietnamese artists who were big time in the making of Vietnamese art history, Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Sang, To Ngoc Van and Bui Xuan Phai.
I sat down and shared a cup of green tea with Bac […]
The Apprentice
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
“So, what do you want to know?” Bac Liem asked me.
“I want to know the root of it all,” I replied.
“All foreigners want to know that, but not even Vietnamese people know the answer to that. You need to go to Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City doesn’t have any technique. The people […]
Lacquer Painting
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Professor Minh said, “Vietnamese people, in general, cannot paint in oil. Oil painting is good in America, you guys know how to paint. But, Vietnamese people know lacquer painting, and in all honesty, the medium accommodates the Vietnamese way much more.”
Professor Minh and I conversed for several hours about the process of lacquer […]
Art Scene Orderve
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Vietnamese have a dark soul, but everyone is French, and the world revolves around New York City.
I am lucky to have arrived in Vietnam on the week of a small French and Vietnamese photography festival. I had a conversation with one of the artists and he told me: “Our project is about a […]