Le Thua Tien
1964 Born in Hue, Vietnam
Le Thua Tien is one of the few contemporary Vietnamese artists who has addressed the American War in his work. His work tends to be more conceptual than many other Vietnamese artists of his generation and he is continually exploring new mediums and means of expression. His diverse art practice includes paintings, installation, experimentation with sculpture and community-based art projects. The direction of Tien’s paintings changed from figurative to abstract when he arrived at the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam in 1995. His more recent works are mixed media and lacquer and can be considered as symbolic, using a traditional Vietnamese medium in very new and innovative ways.
Tien’s Reflection Series is an exceptional use of the traditional medium of Vietnam. The artist has composed a series of mirrored surfaced works with layer upon layer of lacquer impregnated with architectural fragments; fabric, silver leaf, incense and found objects as fragments of time and memory. The surfaces are reflective through their glossy surface, softened by the remnants of textured layers of time-honored objects. Gazing at these works entices the viewer to look closely, examining each work in an attempt to discover the meaning within, reflecting on their own memory as a natural response.
This regression into memory, longing, and searching for a deeper meaning has long been the impetus that moves Tien’s melancholy expression. Mixing media and symbology Tien veils and unveils in his attempt to portray the passage of time and what remains, the imprints that one cannot forget, that plague our dreams and occupy our consciousness. The works are haunting in their fragile, weathered beauty filling the atmosphere with a reverence for time past, for lives lived, loves lost.
Tien’s works have been exhibited in the United States, Thailand, Holland, France, Germany, Venezuela, Japan and Australia. He has also attended many international artist residency programs continuing to explore a universal language of reflective expression. A former teacher at the Vietnam Fine Arts University in Hue, Tien now devotes his time solely to his art practice.
2008-2009 Master of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia
1995-1996 Post graduate Rijakasacademie van Beeldende Kunsten,
Royal Arts Academy, Amsterdam, Holland
1988 B.F.A. College of Fine Arts, Hue University, Vietnam
1990-2010 Lecturer in Painting Department, Faculty of Arts, Hue
University, Hue Vietnam
2018 Silent Whisperings, Salon Art Vietnam, Hanoi
2011 The Globe, Meta House, (German-Cambodian Cultural Center)
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2009 MFA Exhibition, Casula Powerhouse Arts Center, Sydney NSW. Australia
2007 Hues of Hue, Fielding Lecht Gallery, Austin, Texas, USA
2006 Reflections, Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
1998 Vietnam – The Fossilized War, installation (video clips, plaster figures). Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, USA
1995 Monumentalite in Time, Gallery Amber/East-West Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands
2018 L’Infini du Miroir, L’Espace, Hanoi
2017 Foliage, Vingroup Center of Contemporary Art, Hanoi, Vietnam
2016 Kenpoku Art 2016, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
2015 Victoria’s Gallery, Paris, France
2013 Daklak Arts Center, Buon Ma Thuot City, Vietnam
2012 Continuing Conversations – Meta House 5 Year Show, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2009 Nam Bang, Casula Powerhouse Arts Center / Liverpool Arts Museum, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
2008 I LOVE PHO, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre / Liverpool Regional Museum, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
Gabriel Gallery, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2006 Field of Dreams, origami installation, collaboration with Nerine Martini, Songlines Arts Festival, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Malaysian–Vietnamese Contemporary Arts
2005 Hoi Tu, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
2004 Vietnam Today, Gallery Amber and Gallery Caro / East-West Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands
2003 Open Studios, ARCUS Project 2003, Ibaraki, Japan
2002 Liquid International, workshop and exhibition – Long Hai and Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
Hue Arts Festival 2002, Hue, Vietnam
2001 13 Horas, paintings & installation exhibition, Caracas, Venezuela
2000 The Five Hue Artists, Song Huong Gallery, Hue, Vietnam
1999 Things We Carry: Revisioning Vietnam (installation, photography) with Sally Packard, An-My Lê, Le Thua Tien
North Texas University Art Gallery, Texas, USA
1998 Meeting Point 98, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum & Hanoi Fine Arts College, Vietnam
Gap Vietnam, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
1997 Vietnam–Thailand Contemporary Arts Exhibition, Hue and Hanoi, Vietnam
Le Thua Tien – Phan Cam Thuong, Gallery Julian Scott Memorial, Johnson, Vermont, USA
From Red River to Mekong: New Trends in Vietnam, Centre Wallonie, Bruxelles, Belgium; Paris, France
1 + 1 (Le Thua Tien – Bradford Edwards), Blue Space Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
1995 Open Studio, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, Holland
Arts and Image ’95, Grote Kerk, The Hague, Holland
1992 Franco–Vietnamese Cultural Festival, Hue, Vietnam & Paris, France
1988 National Fine Arts Exhibition, Hanoi, Vietnam
2013 Haiku Path Project, Rimbun Dahan, Kuang, Selangor, Malaysia
2003 Field of Hope, origami installation in landscape – 3,000 folded lotus papers, Moriya’s Baseball Field, Ibaraki, Japan
2002 Armada Project, installation of 15,000 floating origami boats (20x6x6 cm), Long Hai seashore, Vietnam
Lotus Candles, 10,000 white paper lotus lanterns (8x6x6 cm), Hai Ba Trung High School, Hue, Vietnam
Wild Flowers, 3,000 white paper pinwheels on riverbank, Hue, Vietnam
Moonlight, UV-lit fishing net and bamboo installation (140m²), Perfume River, Hue, Vietnam
2015 Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, Vermont, USA
2011 Heinrich Böll Foundation Grant
2011 Chinatown Arts Space – SUSTAIN Sculpture Project, London, UK (Final shortlist)
2011 Signature Art Prize (2nd Asia Pacific Triennial), Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation / Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (Shortlisted)
2007 Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship / University International Postgraduate Award (EIPRS/UIPA), University of New South Wales, Australia
2003 Asian Cultural Council Grant – Research grant for Japan (US–Japan Arts Program)
1997–1998 Freeman Asian Artist Award
1995–1996 Scholarship from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
1995 Årberg–UNESCO Fellowship, The Netherlands
2015 & 1997 Vermont Studio Center, Artist in Residency, Johnson, Vermont, USA
2013 Rimbun Dahan, Artist in Residency, Kuang, Selangor, Malaysia
2011 Meditation Sculpture Workshop and Symposium, Ban Don, Daklak, Vietnam
2008 Artspace Visual Arts Center, Residency, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia
Casula Powerhouse Visual Arts Center, Residency, Liverpool Arts Museum, NSW, Australia
2005 Blue Space Gallery, International Workshop & Exhibition, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
2003 At Home / Not at Home? Artists in Residencies in Tokyo NOW, International Symposium, POLA Museum Annex, Chūō-ku, Tokyo, Japan
ARCUS Project ‘03, Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
1999 Things We Carry – Revisioning Vietnam, University of North Texas, USA
1998 Indochina Arts Partnership, Newton Center, MA, USA
1997 Freeman Asian Artist Award, two-month residency at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, USA
1996 Amber Gallery, East-West Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands
Vietnam Fine Arts Association
Ibaraki Shimbun, Japan, vol: Dec, 2003.
World Sculpture News Magazine, February-March, 2002
Vietnam News magazine, vol: Feb,1999-2000
Boston Globe Newspaper, USA. Vol: Dec, 1998 Art New England magazine, Dec 98/Jan 99
Asian Art Archive, Biography on Vietnamese Contemporary Art, Eef Vermeer
Leiden morning Newspaper, Holland. Vol: Jan, 1996
Amber Gallery – East/ West Foundation, Leiden, The Netherlands
HCMC Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam
Senda Gallery, Hiroshima Japan
