Nguyen Nghia Cuong
1973 Born in Bac Ninh province
1996 Graduated from Hanoi Fine Arts University
Shortly after graduating from the Vietnam Fine Arts University, Hanoi in 1996, Nguyen Nghia Cuong soon distinguished himself as a very independent iconic artist of the absurd. Many of Cuong’s early works are done atop newsprint advertisements, a gesture which intentionally illustrates just how much the daily life of the Vietnamese is dependent on commerce in today’s Vietnam. Cuong’s work is playful and delights in the everyday absurdities of development while retaining a distinctly reverent Vietnamese flair. A walk through the works of Cuong leaves one feeling young, happy and full of life. Perhaps this is one of art’s most powerful missions, to transform one to another world where the sorrows and vicissitudes of life are forgotten and all that remains is the joy of the moment.
Cuong has moved into oil and acrylic painting on canvas, a transition that demonstrates his skill as an artist as he adapts the medium to explore his unique style and satirically amusing subject matter. Humorous and playful, the works continue to point out the contradictions and paradoxes of life as the country rapidly develops and joins the global economy. H is for Hanoi is a children’s book about Vietnam published by ThingsAsian Press, Hong Kong. Cuong was commissioned to create 30 works of art that are used as the illustrations for the book. Amusing and playful, these illustrations capture the traditions and life of the Vietnamese.
Cuong has exhibited widely in Vietnam and internationally, continuing to delight all with his marvelous wit and critical observations of the absurdity in life.
2017 Let Go! That is Heaven, V Art Club, Hanoi, Vietnam 2013 H is for Hanoi, D is for Dreams of Long Bien Bridge, Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam 2010 The Color of Cuong’s Smile, Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam 2005 Cuong’s Smile, Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam 2002 Information – Advertisement, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam 2001 Tu Do Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 1998 Five Storms, FCAC Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
2023 Freedom & Love, Apel Watoe Art Gallery, Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Beyond Expression, Palm Art Space, Ecopark, Hanoi, Vietnam
2022 Vietnam Forum, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. Jerayawara International Perak Art Trail, Hotel Kinta Riverfront, Ipoh City, Malaysia
2020 Spring Dream, House of Fritz Hansen Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2019 Secret Garden, Palm Art Space, Ecopark, Hanoi, Vietnam. Universal Love, Sanskriti Art Pivot, Udaipur, India. Hello City, VICAS Art, Hanoi, Vietnam. Radical Joking Expressionism, Segni e Soumi Art Space, Italy
2018 The Supermarket Experience, SPRMRKT Contemporary Art Space, Singapore.
GO GO, VICAS Art, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tet, Dong A Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Do, VICAS Art, Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Foliage II, VCCA, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2017 Domino Art Fair, Hanoi & Saigon, Vietnam. A Present Retrospective, Work Room Four, Hanoi, Vietnam
2016 Tet Art, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Sky’s Smoke (Trinh Cong Son’s music), Hang Da Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Bold Stroke, Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam.
RMIT Collection Exhibition, RMIT University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Woman, Laos Fine Arts University, Vientiane, Laos.
Group exhibition, in the international Art Camp 2016, at Solo, Central Java, Indonesia.
2015 Hoan Hô Bravo, Propaganda Art Now, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Gouache on Newsprint, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hoi An, Vietnam.
2014 Venus in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts
2013 Vietnam National Sculpture Art Exhibition
2012 Venus in Vietnam, exhibition with Vu Dan Tan’s old artworks, Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam
2009 Korean–Chinese–Vietnamese Exhibition, Korean Culture Center, Hanoi, Vietnam
2008 Post-Doi Moi: Vietnamese Art After 1990, Singapore Art Museum. Modern Perspective, California and New York, USA
2007 SosaBeol International Art Expo, Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York, USA
2004 Group show, Thai Binh City, Vietnam
2003 Urban Art, selected artists from five nations, Melbourne, Australia.
Group show, Ha Long Bay City, Vietnam
2002 Two-artist show, Tu Do Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2001 Nguyen Nghia Cuong and Three Artists from Toulouse, France, Bong Sen Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Nguyen Nghia Cuong and Bui Ngoc Tu, Tu Do Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2000 Nguyen Nghia Cuong and Ta Thanh Tam, Small Space Gallery, Daewoo Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam
1999 Two artists, Blue Space Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Two artists, Sofitel Metropole Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards Exhibition, Vietnam
1997 Capital Exhibition, Hanoi, Vietnam
1996 National Student Exhibition
RMIT University Hanoi Collection
Singapore Art Museum Collection
Private Collections
