mardi 23 octobre 2012

THE ART OF (3)D SYSTEM








Tran Trong Vu
The art of (3)D system

Would Trân Trong Vû be the James Cameron of painting? One could believe in it, through reading everywhere that the artist fabricates works in three dimensions. However, not of new technologies here, the process - to remain in the cinematographic comparison - would be closer to Gondry. Imagination, after all, is in power, because to create this impression of 3D, Trân Trong Vû had the simple but great idea to paint on transparent plastic sheets. Enough to think, as the saying goes, but the effect is seizing and opens possibilities of settings in scene and new interactions with the public. For one who struggles for the place of painting in the contemporary art at the sides of the photograph or the video, the matter is to give another life to a space. By leaving the walls and by laying out these works, as suspended in the free air, so as to create a permanent and labyrinthian trompe-l'oeil, he invents at the same time visual and psychological effects while inviting the public to look for his way in a ludic and intelligent hide-and-seek game. Because if Trân Trong Vû considers painting as a means, and not an objective, his figures with the so systematic and fixed smiles that they become disturbing, have also a political dimension full of derision. Post-communist legacy, phantasms related to Asia? Malicious Trân Trong Vû definitely wants to play with the public.




Trân Trong Vû
l’art du système (3)D


Trân Trong Vû serait-il le James Cameron de la peinture? On pourrait y croire, à force de lire partout que l’artiste fabrique des oeuvres en trois dimensions. Pourtant, pas de nouvelles technologies ici, la démarche – pour rester dans la comparaison cinématographique – serait plus proche d’un Gondry. L’imagination au pouvoir en somme, car pour créer cette impression de 3D, Trân Trong Vû a eu l’idée simple et géniale de peindre sur des lais de plastique transparent. Suffisait d’y penser comme on dit, mais l’effet est saisissant et ouvre des possibilités de mises en scène et d’interactions avec le public assez inédites. Pour celui qui revendique haut et fort la place de la peinture dans l’art contemporain aux côtés de la photo ou de la vidéo, le propos est de donner une autre vie à un espace. En quittant les murs et en disposant ces oeuvres, comme suspendues dans l’air libre, de manière à créer un trompe-l’oeil permanent et labyrinthique, il invente des effets à la fois visuels et psychologiques tout en invitant le public à chercher son chemin dans une partie de cache-cache aussi ludique qu’intelligente. Car si Trân Trong Vû considère la peinture comme un moyen, et non pas un objectif, c’est que ses personnages aux sourires si systématiques et figés qu’ils en deviennent inquiétants, ont aussi une dimension politique pleine de dérision. Héritage post-communiste, fantasmes liés à l‘Asie? Le malicieux Trân Trong Vû a décidément envie de jouer avec le public.
 



Nicolas Mathé
Lets Motiv n° 124/mars 2011/ Toulouse


lundi 22 octobre 2012

LE BONHEUR A-T-IL BESOIN DE GRAND-CHOSE?

 


 

Tran Trong Vu’s installation: unity in three dimensions


Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- An installation by Vietnamese-born French artist Tran Trong Vu is one of the central pieces at one of the showrooms at the Youth Art Palace. The creation by the artist is an attempt to breathe life into space by means of adding symbols, signs and illusions. Tran Trong Vu, a French artist of Vietnamese origin, paints on large transparent plastic sheets and installs them in space and the painting becomes an illusion. His creations involve participation by the public or at least its consent to become part of a particular creation. The visitors look for their own path in transparency between images, figures and flowers and act as if they were on a stage.
One of the goals the artist gave himself is to breathe life into space by filling it with signs and symbols, illusions and metaphors. Tran created the installation presented at the ongoing Art Week in 2012 in Paris. It reflects and sums up the artist’s views, relying on ‘a little lie’ to approach the truth.
“It’s a landscape of flowers in three dimensions. Once inside this installation, the visitor sees silhouettes that seem to be moving. Their backs face the flowers and they appear to be avoiding the flowers as if trying to escape this landscape that looks absurd but poetic at the same time,” says Tran of his installation, which has drawn a multitude of curious visitors.
The son of the famous Vietnamese poet and novelist Tran Dan and an artist of high stature, Tran Trong Vu taught at the College of Fine Arts in Hanoi, which he had graduated from in 1987. He started working and living in Paris in 1990 after completing his studies at the National Fine Arts College of Paris. His creations have gone on display in many art spaces across the world: in France, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong... Tran Trong Vu was awarded a grant by the New York-based Pollock-Krasner Foundation.