artLIVE – Exhibition ‘Free Colors | Freeform Colors’ is displayed in a small, cozy space in the heart of Saigon, but it contains almost a lifetime of passion and a monumental artistic journey of artist Pham Luc.
With 29 works spread across many materials such as oil on canvas – a typical mark associated with his name, along with lacquer, silk, watercolor… the exhibition reflects the diversity in the choice of expression as well as the depth of the subject.
Each painting is like a window opening to the rich, flexible and constantly changing creative world of an artist who has experienced both war and peace.
Born in 1943 in Hue, graduated from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts in 1977, painter Pham Luc has been in the army for more than 35 years, having set foot on fierce battlefields such as Ham Rong, Tay Nguyen, Nam Lao, Tay Nam Bo…
The experience of living and fighting during wartime has shaped his very own painting style, strong, decisive but no less profound and humane. With more than 30 exhibitions at home and abroad, he is considered one of the most outstanding artistic personalities of modern Vietnamese fine arts.
Not only attached to the theme of war, painter Pham Luc also devoted much effort to sketching the daily life of Vietnamese people with a simple, honest perspective. In his paintings, peaceful rural scenes, deep maternal love, portraits of women and simple everyday moments appear.
In particular, the image of Vietnamese women appears clearly and emotionally, such as the image of a hard-working mother in the midst of bombs and bullets, an old woman selling goods on the street wearing a crow’s beak scarf, and young women with a rustic and simple beauty.
They are present as a harmony throughout history, sometimes as a symbol of sacrifice, sometimes as the embodiment of peace, gentleness and vitality.
One of the elements that defines the identity of Pham Luc’s paintings is the way he uses color as a unique language. Not confined within a framework, his color palette is flexible and diverse, sometimes bright and vibrant, igniting faith and hope, sometimes quiet and deep, like echoes from distant memories. Each shade is not just a layer of color on canvas, but a range of emotions, telling the story of time with a subtle visual sense.
More than just a painter, Pham Luc is a visual storyteller, an artistic witness to the changes of the country and people of Vietnam, from a realistic style with clear, sharp lines to abstract compositions with a spirit of freedom and expression.
The exhibition ‘Freeform Colors’ is held from April 19 – May 4, 2025 at Annam Gallery, 371/4 Hai Ba Trung, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.
Photos & Reference: Annam Gallery
