Artist: Nguyen Van Tien (Tiến Văn Miếu)
Born: 1970 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Graduated: The Hanoi Industrial College of Fine Arts 1995
ART ACTIVITIES:
1994
– Exhibition at the Hanoi Center for Art Exchange and Introduction, Vietnam.
– Exhibition “SUMMER” at Espace NK Art Contemporain, Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam.
1997
– “ART SPACE – NGUYEN VAN TIEN & TRAN ANH QUAN ” Art of Act, Performing Art, Installation Art at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam, Hanoi, Vietnam.
– “ ART SPACE NGUYEN VAN TIEN” at the Contemporary Arts Center’s “Blue Space”, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
1998
– Exhibition in Osaka, Japan
– Exhibition “SENSE OF VIỆT NAM” in Hamburg, Germany.
2000
– Exhibition “DAY BY DAY” at KOA Gallery, Hawaii, USA.
2001
– “HEY, ME!” Art of Act, Performing Arts, Installation Art at Bich Cau Art Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
2010
– “CONSTRUCTION WASTE II – THE BIRTH OF VENUS”- Art of Act, Installation Art, Performing Art and Improvising Art by Nguyen Van Tien, with the participation in improvising by group “Ferro-concrete drilling and cutting” in Ho Chi Minh City.
– “THE RED THREAD” Art of Act, Performing Art from idea by Nguyen Van Tien, with the participation in improvising by group “Ferro-concrete drilling and cutting”, and music by KRIST-K (Hungarian artist) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
2012
– The fine art program “BIRTH”, a idea space with its own symbols by Nguyen Van Tien, with visiting artists and improvising people in idea space could be considered as a work of “art for relationship’s sake”, it means to remake creative energy sources in the exchanges, dialogue at Saigon open City, Ho Chi Minh City.
2022
– Exhibition, Performance “LOCKDOWN” in Alpha Art Station HCMC
2024
– 02/2024: Art Project “OPEN STUDIO” by Nguyen Van Tien at J Art Space
– 08/2024: Solo Exhibition “DAY BY DAY” by Nguyen Van Tien at J Art Space
Artist: Nguyen Van Tien (Tiến Văn Miếu)
As far as everone knows Nguyễn Văn Tiến was one of the two artists in the “Văn Miếu event” (Temple of Literature happening) in Ha Noi in 1997. This event has caused a wave of public opinions among the Vietnamese artist community, and left a host of problems that until now – or in a very long time – still requires further investigation and discussion.
After the “Văn Miếu event”, artist Nguyễn Văn Tiến moved to Ho Chi Minh City for a new living. After a quiet time, Nguyễn Văn Tiến returned in 2001 with the exhibition “Tôi ơi!” (Hey, me!) in the “Bich Cau” Gallery of the “Labour” Culture Palace of Ho Chi Minh City. The exhibition caused a shock to the audience with its “unusual shabbiness”. Which, in itself, is a message as food for thoughts.
After this exhibition, Nguyễn Văn Tiến again disappeared without a trace for a long time. Some people said he has retired. But some other said this quietness of Nguyễn Văn Tiến “is also an activity of arts”.
The sudden return of Nguyễn Văn Tiến with the series “Construction waste II – The birth of Venus” – with the cooperative creation of a “Ferro-concrete drilling and cutting” group in the evening of 24 October 2012, in a temporary hut amid the slum area of Bình Triệu District, Ho Chi Minh City – also caused many controversial opinions. There is still a prickly Nguyễn Văn Tiến with the contemporary issues. But in this exhibition, it was like a surgery almost “cruel” into the self of the artist, of his own conceptions of arts and lives.
Next, in the evening of 23 January 2012, in the same slum hut in Bình Triệu, Nguyễn Văn Tiến displayed the artwork of arrangement and exhibition “The red thread”. This artwork also has the participation of the “Ferro-concrete drilling and cutting” group, on the base notes of KRIST-K, a Hungarian audio artist. The domestic press remained almost quiet at this seemingly simple artwork, but its meanings have lingered among the artist audience until now.
In general, it is very difficult to classify Nguyễn Văn Tiến’s art conceptions and forms into any single art school already existing so far. That issue forces us to go on examining and discovering this artist’s character. This is also the main reason why Saigon Open City decided to begin the new era with the art programme “Sinh” (Birth) by Nguyễn Văn Tiến.
Saigon Open City
