oNiReaKHoWaRiGNoRaLiSMe
Gaerlie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh, Bình Chánh, 05/22/2014 - 07/19/2014
ABOUT
This new body of work draws from the artist’s continued interest in the dichotomy of
belief and disbelief, of certainty and doubt, reality and imagination, and the ambiguity
of chaos. His oeuvre destabilizes the viewer, creating a sense of vertigo akin to the
irrationality of dreams, and plays on the ability to see, observe, recognize and abandon
our worldly knowledge and rational perception.
The title of the exhibition poses itself as a riddle and alludes to some of the diverse
ideas, concepts and sources of inspiration for the artist, which range from art and
human history to the history of representation and contemporary popular culture. The
‘isme’ (ism) ending of the indecipherable word suggests a school of thought, to which
the artist adheres and which he invites us to participate in.
At the entrance to the exhibition, Ready to see – a small drawing of a dead woman
transported by two angels inspired by William Bouguereau’s 1878 A soul in the sky
greets visitors, in much the same guise as Dante’s passage written on the infernal gate
welcomed and warned those who would enter. But Truc-Anh is not alluding to a loss
of hope, rather he incites us to forgo rationality and points to the beginning of
wonder: the image stands as an invitation to losing oneself in a parallel world, where
our perception of reality and certitude need to be abandoned and our minds let to
roam freely.
Truc-Anh’s world is one of enigmas and myriad references charged with personal cum
universal symbolism. Small portraits are drawn from German photographer Juergen
Teller’s book Woo!, (a smorgasbord of imagery that collapses the boundaries between
art, fashion and advertising) while large one-panel and multi-panel canvases include
depictions of fictional characters, such as Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s
‘No Face’ spirit from his award winning Spirited Away cartoon epic, or from the Harry
Potter saga, such as in his ink drawing of Voldemort.
Truc-Anh seems to be particularly attracted to cast-away figures, at times potentially
or clearly evil, who embody the darkest and most hidden truths of human nature.
However, these malevolent or alienated individuals are balanced by the presence of
benevolent ones, such as the Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel or the powerful fighter Oni
in the Street Fighter video games, transformed into a woman in Croco Queen. In his
most elaborate works, Truc-Anh often communicates a sense of loss, confusion and
alienation from reality, with a savior or powerful entity who appears to restore a
precarious emotional and visual equilibrium.
Truc-Anh’s paintings are rich in overlapping tales, juxtaposed to create an enigmatic,
greater narrative that functions like a puzzle. His stories do not follow a chronological
or linear structure but rather a circular one, almost viciously so that his imagery has
the power of confounding and questioning reason, challenging the viewer’s
knowledge. His inspiration for the multilayered stories in his oeuvre is well explained
by controversial French author, filmmaker and poet Michel Houellebecq – the subject
of one of his drawings – who wrote in his book La carte et le territoire (The map and
the territory, 2010): "I think I've more or less finished with the world as narration – the
world of novels and films, the world of music as well. I'm now only interested in the
world as juxtaposition – that of poetry and painting.
For More Information
This new body of work draws from the artist’s continued interest in the dichotomy of
belief and disbelief, of certainty and doubt, reality and imagination, and the ambiguity
of chaos. His oeuvre destabilizes the viewer, creating a sense of vertigo akin to the
irrationality of dreams, and plays on the ability to see, observe, recognize and abandon
our worldly knowledge and rational perception.
The title of the exhibition poses itself as a riddle and alludes to some of the diverse
ideas, concepts and sources of inspiration for the artist, which range from art and
human history to the history of representation and contemporary popular culture. The
‘isme’ (ism) ending of the indecipherable word suggests a school of thought, to which
the artist adheres and which he invites us to participate in.
At the entrance to the exhibition, Ready to see – a small drawing of a dead woman
transported by two angels inspired by William Bouguereau’s 1878 A soul in the sky
greets visitors, in much the same guise as Dante’s passage written on the infernal gate
welcomed and warned those who would enter. But Truc-Anh is not alluding to a loss
of hope, rather he incites us to forgo rationality and points to the beginning of
wonder: the image stands as an invitation to losing oneself in a parallel world, where
our perception of reality and certitude need to be abandoned and our minds let to
roam freely.
Truc-Anh’s world is one of enigmas and myriad references charged with personal cum
universal symbolism. Small portraits are drawn from German photographer Juergen
Teller’s book Woo!, (a smorgasbord of imagery that collapses the boundaries between
art, fashion and advertising) while large one-panel and multi-panel canvases include
depictions of fictional characters, such as Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s
‘No Face’ spirit from his award winning Spirited Away cartoon epic, or from the Harry
Potter saga, such as in his ink drawing of Voldemort.
Truc-Anh seems to be particularly attracted to cast-away figures, at times potentially
or clearly evil, who embody the darkest and most hidden truths of human nature.
However, these malevolent or alienated individuals are balanced by the presence of
benevolent ones, such as the Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel or the powerful fighter Oni
in the Street Fighter video games, transformed into a woman in Croco Queen. In his
most elaborate works, Truc-Anh often communicates a sense of loss, confusion and
alienation from reality, with a savior or powerful entity who appears to restore a
precarious emotional and visual equilibrium.
Truc-Anh’s paintings are rich in overlapping tales, juxtaposed to create an enigmatic,
greater narrative that functions like a puzzle. His stories do not follow a chronological
or linear structure but rather a circular one, almost viciously so that his imagery has
the power of confounding and questioning reason, challenging the viewer’s
knowledge. His inspiration for the multilayered stories in his oeuvre is well explained
by controversial French author, filmmaker and poet Michel Houellebecq – the subject
of one of his drawings – who wrote in his book La carte et le territoire (The map and
the territory, 2010): "I think I've more or less finished with the world as narration – the
world of novels and films, the world of music as well. I'm now only interested in the
world as juxtaposition – that of poetry and painting.
For More Information
