Biography

In her pandora box of arts, Ly Tran Quynh Giang (1978) encapsulates the gamut of human feelings and the internal world. Once the viewers gaze into her work, they can no longer escape. A fragment of them is merged into the elusive immensity of the melancholy of her subjects, an unutterable sadness with no beginning nor end. The inmost loneliness and poignancy strike deep and each time has a sui generis character, a different color. Giang is bold and yet retrospective. She invites the audience into a world that is still, awash, and curious– where one stands alone and stares into one’s own reflections to contemplate on her existence and being.

One of the most prominent female contemporary artists of Vietnam, Giang graduated from Hanoi Fine Arts University in 2002 and was the first recipient of the Vietnam Foundation for Art’s Individual Award in 2008 and winner of the Bright Young Eyes competition organized by the French Embassy and the Vietnamese Fine Art Association. She considers herself to be under the influence of Edward Munch in that the artist dissects her own internal turmoil and the most private feelings, emotions, and spaces. Best known for her oil paintings and wood-cut panels, her individuality is a rare gem in the Vietnamese contemporary art world. She depicts the suffering, struggles, and torment of human lives on earth, harried by illness and the blurry boundary between life and death, and the desire for freedom. Going beyond haunting portraits of human subjects, Giang also channels the afflictions of mankind through animals. The intriguing presence of owls, bees, and fish in her work sometimes embodies an escape from this earthly world into another cosmos.

Giang’s important exhibitions include Where They Turn To (2014), Hey Are You Sick (2010), The Solitary World of Ly Tran Quynh Giang (2010), Giang (2007), and Tropical Zone (2002). Her works have been exhibited in different countries, including Italy, England, USA, Singapore, China and Malaysia.

Awards

2004: Awarded First Prize in the Young Artists Competition, organized by the French Embassy and the Vietnamese Fine Art Association. The prize included 3 months of study in Paris at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts.

Solo Exhibitions

2014: Where they turn to, CUC Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam

2010: Hey, are you sick, recent paintings, Hanoi, Vietnam

2010: The Solitary World of Ly Tran Quynh Giang, recent woodcuts, Hanoi, Vietnam

2007: Giang, woodcut exhibition, L’Espace French Cultural Center, Hanoi, Vietnam

2002: Tropical Zone, Hanoi, Vietnam

Group Exhibitions

2018: Art Expo Malaysia Plus, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Art Stage Singapore, Singapore

2017: Rekindling Lacquer: Vietnamese Modern Painting in Shanghai Collections, China Art Museum, Shanghai

Personal Structures, European Cultural Center and GAA Foundation, Venice, Italy

Art Stage Singapore, Singapore.

2016: Open, Vietnam Fine Art Museum, Hanoi

Organized by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sport to highlight and appraise Vietnam's achievements after “Doi moi” period for 30 years (1986-2016)

2015: START art fair 2015, CUC Gallery, London, UK

Art Stage Singapore, CUC Gallery, Singapore

2014: Vietnamese Contemporary Art Presentation, Start Art Fair, London, UK

Vietnamese Contemporary Art Presentation, Art Stage Singapore, Singapore

2012: DAWN, CUC Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam

2011: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Vietnam

2009: Hanoi: Where We Are Now, Hanoi, Vietnam

2007-2008: Changing Identity: Recent Works by Women Artists from Vietnam, curated by Nora A. Taylor, Kennesaw State University Art Gallery, Kennesaw, Georgia; Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas; Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City; Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

Five Changing Identities: Vietnamese Women of Today, Fielding Lecht Gallery, Austin, Texas, USA

2004: Bright Young Eyes, annual exhibition organised by the French Embassy and the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association, Hanoi Contemporary Art Center, Hanoi, Vietnam

2002: Bright Young Eyes, annual exhibition organised by the French Embassy and the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association, Hanoi Contemporary Art Center, Hanoi, Vietnam

2001: Hanoi Contemporary Art Center, Hanoi, Vietnam