ARTIST NGUYEN LAM

Nguyen Lam was born in 1941 in Can Tho, Vietnam. He came to international attention at a young age, receiving invitations to participate in the Paris Biennale in 1961 and 1963.

Nguyen Lam is a member of Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association and a member of Vietnam Fine Arts Association. In 2013 he beat many candidates from France, Japan and Vietnam to be specially chosen by the French government to restore a rare painting by Nguyen Gia Tri (b.1908-1993, Tri is Vietnam's legendary lacquer painter with many works considered Vietnam's national treasures.

Nguyen Lam, one of the greatest living contemporary Vietnamese masters, sees his art as a continuum

From his highly regarded early figurative paintings in the traditional lacquer style, he moved on to explore abstraction. Inspired by the energy and purity of calligraphy, he began to create abstract oils that retained dynamic strokes of black while simultaneously introducing complex colors and textures.

The results are bright and powerful paintings that are both modern and minimalistic. With meditation an important part of his process, the artist insists that each brushstroke must be perfect to attain the ideal simplicity of form.

Exhibitions soon took him around the world from Vietnam to the United States, Japan, France, Belgium, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. His paintings appear in permanent collections of the National Gallery Singapore, the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts and private collections in Hong Kong , Singapore , Japan , Indonesia , Malaysia , France , Belgium , Swiss , Italy , Germany , Spain , UK , USA ...

AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Certificate of honour from the First International Art Exhibition in Saigon, 1962

• Silver medal from Spring Exhibition in 1962

• Bronze medal from the exhibition organised by the Directorate of Catholic Chaplains, 1965

• Selected to participated in Biennale de Paris, 1961, 1963

• Selected for International Art Exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur in 1963, New Delhi in 1967 and in New York in 1968

• Jury member for Saigon Tourist Painting Competition, 1993

• Selected for Southeast Asian Art – A New Spirit, with 100 other established artists, Singapore 1997

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1963: Exhibition at Information Hall, Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City)

1965: Exhibition at L’Alliance Francais, Sai Gon

1970:  Exhibition at Vietnamese American Association, Sai Gon

1971: Exhibition at Information Hall, Sai Gon

1972:  Exhibition at Vietnamese American Association, Sai Gon

1974: Exhibition at L’Alliance Francais, Sai Gon

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1960: Exhibition at Cultural Association of Vietnam

1961: International Art Exhibition “Biennal de Paris”

1962: Selected for the First International  Fine Art Exhibition in Sai Gon

1963:  International Art Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur

1966-1974: Exhibition of Vietnamese Young Artist Association

1966:  Exhibition in New Delhi

1969: Exhibition in Washington DC, USA

1972: Exhibition at Dolce Vita, Vietnam

1979: Exhibition at Vietnam’s House, Paris

1991: Exhibition in Michigan, USA

1992: Exhibition at Mandarin Hotel , Singapore and exhibition at Vietnam’s House, Paris

1993: Participated in exhibition “New Space” by Vietnamese and Singapore artists

1994: Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam

1994: Exhibitions  in France: at L’espace Jacques Preven, Dunkerque, and Gallery Bellint Paris

1994: Asia International Modern Art Exhibition, Vietnam

1995: Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam

1995: Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibition, Washington DC touring 7 museums from

1995-1998.  “An Ocean Apart” exhibition at Ellipse Arts Center Arlington, Virginia, James A Micherner Art Museum Doylestoye Pennsylvania

1996: Exhibition at Jujita Vente Art Museum, Tokyo

1996: San Jose Museum of Art, California, USA

1997: Selected for Southeast Asian Art – “A New Spirit” with 100 established Asian artists, Singapore

1997: Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam

1997: Cultural Representative in Transition, New Vietnamese Painting, Bangkok, Thailand

1998: Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC; Asian Modern Art exhibition in VN

1998: Exhibition at H and S Art Gallery, Brussels.

1998: Exhibitions in Paris, Tokyo and USA

1999: Exhibition in HCMC, Vietnam

2000: Exhibition in Singapore

2001: Vietnam-Japan Art Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam

2002: Participated in Festival Hue,  exhibition at the Champs Elysses Gallery in HCMC, Vietnam

2003: Exhibition in New York, USA

2004: Exhibition at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam

2005: Exhibition at the World Bank, Washington DC, USA

2006, 2007, 2008: Exhibitions at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, Vietnam2009: Exhibition of Lacquer in Hanoi

2009, 2010: Exhibitions at The Museum of Fine Art HCMC, VietnamPermanent collections displayed at the Museum of Fine Art of Vietnam in Hanoi and the Museum of Fine Art in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

2014: Singapore Art Fair, Singapore2015: International Art Exhibition in Hampstead, UK2015: Art Expo Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur2015: Bazaar Art Jakarta, Indonesia

2015:   Group Exhibition – “Treasures of Vietnam” , London