“The flute player” exhibition opens in Hanoi

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu introduces 53 paintings with various materials in his first solo exhibition called "The flute player", which opens to public from January 7 to 15, 2021.

Nguyen Quang Thieu's poets are inspirations for his paintings.  

"The flute player" is a diversified collection of paintings from different materials such as oil on canvas, opaque watercolor, among others. The largest picture is 150cm x 180cm and the smallest one is 50cm x 70cm. Most of the drawings at the exhibition, was painted by the poet during past three years while the others are borrowed from collectors.

Nguyen Quang Thieu, who is also newly-elected president of Việt Nam Writers' Association, started drawing in 2005, but stopped the work soon after. In 2012, seeing a flute player passing by had encouraged him to paint again.

"I’m not an artist but a person who is dominated by color," Thieu said about his inspiration of painting. According to the poet, the yellow, especially the canola yellow impressed him the most. "I draw whatever I think of,” says Thieu, "sometimes when I don't know what to draw, I read a poem of my own. As it resounds, I figured out a certain picture within the lines, then I just draw them out." He admitted painting as "another language of poetry” that many paintings were fruits of his inspiration from poetry and literature.

"Painting is another language of poetry," said Thieu

The bamboo flute is a theme of Nguyen Quang Thieu's paintings in this exhibition. In an artwork, the flute has the same size as it is in the real life. In another painting, the flute is stretched and bent like a tree’s body. He also drew the flute curled up like snakes. In another artwork, the flutes are hidden under lines of writings. It seems that, through the image of the flute, poet-cum-painter Nguyen Quang Thieu has revealed many findings and thoughts.

“The flute player” exhibition is curated by artist Le Thiet Cuong. As the artist admitted that “the freedom of drawing inspiration has brought a touch of innocence in the poet's artwork. In other words, ‘Thieu’s outing through the flower garden of painting" is an "interesting spiritual experience" of the poet as well as the audiences who admire his paintings”.

For a long time, Nguyen Quang Thieu has been known by the public as a famous writer and poet, a talented artist in both music and painting. He has participated in many group art exhibitions and illustrated poems of himself and other authors through paintings, but this is the first time he holds a solo painting exhibition.

The exhibition opens from January 7 to 15, at Art Space Center, Vietnam University of Fine Arts, No 42 Yet Kieu street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi.