Oc-Eo Art - contemporary Vietnamese fine art
Oc-Eo Art specialises in contemporary Asian fine art and, in particular, contemporary and modern painting from Vietnam.
Doi Moi (Renovation) was launched in Vietnam in 1986 with a call to ‘untie the strings’, to provide free space for the full development of Vietnamese literature and fine art.
For artists, ‘untie the strings’ meant refusing the rules of socialist realism, its monotony of style, form and topic. Quickly returning to the rich pre-colonial heritage of their tradition, contemporary and modern Vietnamese artists have also tried to absorb and digest all the achievements of a century of western modernism - from cubism, expressionism, abstraction, to surrealism, abstract expressionism and pop-art - and to make from this cultural cross-roads something uniquely Vietnamese.
Oc-Eo Art’s collection, drawn from both new and established contemporary Vietnamese artists, perfectly captures the yearning for individual freedom, self-affirmation and personal discovery that has characterised contemporary and modern Vietnamese painting since ‘Doi Moi’.
Our Autumn programme of exhibitions sees us partnering with Sutcliffe Galleries in Harrogate to present ‘Through Eastern Eyes’, an introduction to contemporary and modern Vietnamese fine art, featuring Nguyen Dieu Thuy, Nguyen Thanh Binh, Kim Bach, Ho Huu Thu and Dao Thanh Duy.
We also have the honour of presenting an exhibition of contemporary Vietnamese fine art, ‘Vietnam, the hidden charm’, and hosting a reception for the Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Quang Hoan at Asia House to commemorate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam and the 63rd Vietnam National Day.
The end of September sees us in Beijing for the Art Salon, where we are presenting ‘Rising Stars’ – Chinese artist He Hong Wei and Vietnamese artist Minh Phan Thanh. Epitomising individualism in contemporary and modern painting from China and Vietnam, these two young artists are forging their own extraordinary and unique paths.
Our return to the UK sees us at three autumn fairs in quick succession. First, we are taking ‘Women, Art, Life’, a celebration of the work of four contemporary women artists from Vietnam, to the Red Dot London fair, where we will be in room 116 at the Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel on Tottenham Court Road. Then we will be presenting an introduction to contemporary and modern Vietnamese paintings at the WEADA members fair in Taunton. Finally, we will once again be the only exhibitor of contemporary and modern Vietnamese fine art at Asian Art in London. Our exhibition, ‘Colour : Emotion’, which opens at the Mall Galleries in London on October 28th, is an immersion into the happiness, sorrow, loneliness and dreams of three contemporary Vietnamese artists, Bui Suoi Hoa, Nguyen Than and Vu Ha Nam.
Finally, we will be ending the year at Chapel Row in Bath with a two week exhibition of contemporary and modern Asian fine art.
In between all this activity, we are also delighted to announce our new permanent London home at Black Swan Furniture, 85 Canonbury Road, London N1, where will be mounting a rolling exhibition of contemporary and modern paintings from Vietnam, China and India.
Contemporary Vietnamese fine art is some of the best value fine art available anywhere in the world. April's first ever themed auction of contemporary Vietnamese painting, at Sotheby's in Hong Kong, set a new record for the sale of Vietnamese fine art, with new records several Vietnamese artists and also for lacquer painting, a particular speciality of Vietnamese fine artists.
