Audio By Carbonatix
The downside of being Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s Grand Central Station: centuries of Chinese, Portuguese, French, and American boot prints (and land mines) in your flowerbed. The upside: cultural and artistic variety and cross-fertilization out the yin yang, as displayed in the “Contemporary Vietnamese Paintings” exhibit. The show, featuring works running the gamut from realist to folk-inspired, spotlights a new generation of Vietnamese painters who’ve tapped into their country’s chaotic last millennium while adding contemporaneous touches. Many Vietnamese artists still work in gouache, originally the medium of necessity because of a shortage of oil paints, or in lacquer, a technique inspired by Vietnamese temple painting.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Sept. 14. Continues through Dec. 16, 2007
