Categories: All, Curation, Writing, Projects, Blog
THẮM LẠI
Thắm Lại brings together four artists, Tường Danh, Như Xuân Hứa, Anh-Phuong Nguyen, and Vân-Nhi Nguyễn, to examine desire as progress, tracing how women’s longing has shaped Vietnamese culture across centuries. The exhibition takes its title from a line in “Mời ăn trầu” (Offering Betel), a poem attributed to the poet Hồ Xuân Hương¹, referencing the concept of thắm lại, the act of becoming red again, a staining that accrues through repetition and the labors of wanting. At the heart of the show is the concept of duyên: a bond written in fate, carrying people into one another’s lives and out again.
TRĂNG NON: TRẦN VĂN THẢO
In his newest paintings, trăng non, Trần Văn Thảo, one of Vietnam's foremost abstract painters, demonstrates the contemplative and dynamic vernacular that defines his practice: a language spoken in color, gesture, and intuition.
INTERVIEW: CHARLES MOORE
From marathon running to marathon interviews, curator Charles Moore turns endurance into art, connecting voices across continents.
THE ARCHIVE BODY
The Archive Body brings together artists who engage with archive-making through direct, hands-on practices. It explores a different approach to archival work, one that emphasizes physical labor: gathering, sorting, imprinting, and layering. This exhibition is complemented by a collaboration with Reading Room, transforming the mezzanine into a temporary reading space that functions as an active archive.
REVIEW: “FACTS ARE BIGGER IN THE DARK” BY Z.T. NGUYEN
The artist’s solo exhibition mythologizes transience, desire, pain, and what it means to be on the precipice of something.
ARCHITECTURES OF INTIMACY
NARS Foundation is pleased to present Architectures of Intimacy, an exhibition featuring works by Tra My Nguyễn, Vân-Nhi Nguyễn, Z.T. Nguyễn, Vy Trịnh, and Hạ-Lan Văn. The exhibition examines the material logic of Vietnamese spaces, where objects shift between roles, blending the practical with the poetic. Through sculpture, photography, textiles, and mixed media, these artists explore how everyday materials shape memory, labor, and transformation.
ALLEN STREET GALLERY
Launched an art gallery on behalf of an architecture firm. “Allen Street Gallery is dedicated to showcasing work at the intersection of architecture, art, and design that reshapes and interacts with the built environment. Founded by Leroy Street Studio as a design resource, the gallery serves as a platform for research, ongoing programming, and collaborative partnerships with resonant creatives and organizations.”
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WHEN I MET YOU I ALMOST MISSED YOU
When I Met You I Almost Missed You is an exploration of the poetics of Vietnamese kitsch objects and how they form spaces of endearment. Many Vietnamese businesses are fashioned from what is immediately available, creating an ad-hoc mixture of utilities and function within a single space. Following this spirit, an assemblage of objects that belong to different Vietnamese spaces converge to create this fantasy world cafe.