Opening: 20.05.2011 @6pm
Exhibition on view until 23.07.2011
Location: Sàn Art
3 Me Linh Street
Binh Thanh District
Ho Chi Minh City

‘Like artist Joseph Beuys before me, I’m as equally invested in his idea of “social sculpture,” which is similarly motivated by the utopian belief in the potential of art to transform society. Thereby upon the invitation of San Art I thought of nothing else but my dreaming of a social organism as a work of art that could perhaps manifest as a token of my homage to the community of creative individuals in my very first trip to Vietnam since 1980’. Phong Bui

Working with a range of local artists, Phong Bui (artist, writer and independent curator) will transform the gallery space of San Art into a new spatial experience. Paintings, photographs, drawings, video, poetry, music by local artists and much more will be featured, though perhaps not displayed in the typical conventional way you may expect. Painting ordinarily hung on the wall may be found leaning on the floor, while photographs usually framed and placed at eye level may be placed up high so you have to stand to view on tip-toe. Other work may be hung one on top of the other in a new kind of sculpture. These are all deliberate gestures by Phong Bui who is interested in the social interactions between art and audience and how they encounter an art experience. Titled ‘To Ho Chi Minh City with Love: A Social Sculpture’, this exhibition celebrates the talent of this city and its artistic friends, while also marking Phong Bui’s first visit to Vietnam in over 30 years. Please visit www.san-art.org for list of local participating artists.