Tu will receive a grant of 1,000 USD in cash and 2,700 USD for his solo exhibition where he will present his new pieces.
They include four paintings titled Bud, In Front of the Mirror, Gay and Uni-sex which are all acrylic on canvas.
He uses a reduced colour palette. With his greys, browns and
dim-yellows he creates an almost medieval ornamental background for his
highly emotional and intimate plots, according to Natasha Kraevskaia, a
member of the judging panel.
The sexually ambiguous
characters in Tu's painting are perplexing. Based on the titles of the
paintings, they are identified as gay or lesbian, but they are really
depicted as transgender characters in his paintings.
"The
viewer can see the same face, but we cannot say that it's a recurring
image. Each piece expresses different feelings: from relaxation and
dreams to fears and phobias," said Kraevskaia.
Born in
1981, Tu is a graduate from Hanoi College of Industrial Fine Arts. He is
a member of the Club for Young Artists of Vietnam Fine Arts Association
and has participated in a number of exhibitions in Hanoi over the
past two years.
He was chosen from eight artists based on aesthetics, relevance, context and originality.
The eight finalists have been exhibiting their paintings at the Fine
Arts College where their work has been on display to the public.
The competition website also functioned as a forum for comments and
discussions about the various works. Many remarks were submitted and
these discussions will help inspire up and coming artists.
The Danish Cultural Development and Exchange Fund will award a prize of
2 million VND for the best comment by the end of this week.
This year's competition drew the attention of artists from Hanoi ,
HCM City , Hue and various other localities across Vietnam .
More than 700 images were submitted by 165 applicants./.
