With great pride, ART IN THE ARTHOUSE welcomes back artist HUNG VIET NGUYEN and his gorgeous new show, PLACES. The show will run at the Royal till May, 2019. Sales benefit the Laemmle Foundation and its support of humanitarian and environmental causes in Los Angeles.
About the exhibit
Born in Vietnam in 1957, Hung Viet Nguyen studied biology at the Science University in Saigon. After relocating to the U.S. in 1982, Nguyen found work as an illustrator, graphic artist and designer. He developed his artistic skills carefully studying a variety of traditional Eastern and Western forms, media and techniques. His complex, labor intensive use of oil paint reveal a mastery of texture. While portions of Nguyen’s work suggest the influence of traditional forms such as woodblock prints, oriental scroll paintings, ceramic art, mosaic, and stained glass, his ultimate expression as an artist asserts a more contemporary sensibility. About his current exhibit, PLACES, Hung remarks, “while traveling I photographed favorite moments, places and scenes. From these images, I created works with ink and watercolor, applied two varieties of varnish for aging and crackling for a classic look. By capturing a cell phone image in a few seconds and then spending many hours to produce an artwork, I uncovered the relationship between the places and myself.” Nguyen’s paintings have been exhibited at galleries, cultural centers and museums by curators or directors of museums including curators of LACMA and MOCA. His work was selected twice for the San Diego Art Institute’s biennial International Exhibition (2013, 2015) where it earned a Juror’s Choice Award each time.
– Tish Laemmle, curator
