In Situ- An Exhibition by Six

As suggested by the name ‘In Situ’—a Latin phrase meaning ‘in the original place’, ‘appropriate position’, or ‘natural arrangement’—the exhibition not only showcases the latest artworks dedicated to Manzi by Nguyễn Phi Phi Oanh, Lê Hoàng Bích Phượng, Nguyễn Huy An, Nguyễn Trần Nam, Nguyễn Đức Phương and Nguyễn Minh Thành, but also serves as the grand opening for Manzi’s new exhibition space located at 2 Ngõ Hàng Bún, Hà Nội.

Presenting a thorough experiment on lacquer and silk through more than 20 works, the exhibition transports the viewer to a diverse reality painted from life, from the nostalgic and carefree spirit in Nguyễn Đức Phuong’s artworks, the delicate and richly meaningful silk paintings of Huy An, the dark obsessions of Nguyễn Trần Nam’s black and white lacquer series, and the melancholy portraits on silk of Nguyễn Minh Thành, to the obscure relations between time and space in Lê Hoàng Bích Phượng’s fragile silk works, and the reflection of the strangeness and significance of the material and the local in the age of the immaterial, virtual and digital reproduction in Phi Phi Oanh’s lacquer on steel series.

Painting has always been an important part of the artistic practice of the six, particularly in this exhibition where silk and lacquer are the main mediums. ‘In Situ’ therefore questions ‘what it is that defines a painting’, and ‘where do the boundaries and rules for the medium lie?’
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