PRESS RELEASEInterfaceA solo show by Oanh Phi PhiOpening 10 May, 2019 @ 6pmVenue: The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City

In the work of Oanh Phi Phi, lacquer is a material of not only physical, but also visceral density.

In ‘Interface’ we present two of her major pictorial installations – Specula, an immersive lacquered tunnel akin to stepping in to a glowing womb; and Palimpsest, which personifies tools of producing images (where projections magnifying glass paintings recall the lens structure of a human eye). What is most dazzling about these two ‘paintings as sculptures’ in this exhibition is the suggestion that these artworks are analogous to organs of a body, indeed their ‘shape’, their ‘skin’, their ‘interface’ infers protection, purpose and ultimately, an identity.

Just as a human organ is constantly processing substance, similarly these sculptural installations are also constantly processing its environment. With Specula the viewer is encouraged to tread lightly on its glass floor to get closer to its lacquered shimmering walls and ceiling; while with Palimpsest the viewer may peer closer at the glass ‘microscopic’ slides (glass paintings) that small projectors then magnify large on the adjacent wall.

The art of Oanh Phi Phi is primarily a relationship between sơn mài (lacquer), light and movement. Thus an audience is required, for according to the artist, in order for the artwork to be truly activated, it is the viewer’s presence (thus causing shadows and interruptions with light) that lends a constantly changing reality to the colors that refract from its layered lacquer depths.

Oanh Phi Phi was trained as an oil painter. She fell in awe with lacquer as a student and has, over the past 15 years, developed an internationally acclaimed artistic practice that bemoans the historical and theoretical deferral of ‘lacquer’ to the discipline of painting; while also insisting arguments of lacquer as ‘craft’ are in need of re-assessment.

‘I try to create work that proposes to break apart those categories so eventually, we might be able to say that lacquer is its own genre, that it has something to say about how images are formed and thus has grounds to exist beyond current debated discipline. I relate to lacquer as a medium of ‘newness’, a material with deep haptic qualities, in synergy with the contemporary digital world of multiple dimension and sensorial light refractions’.

Whilst critically respectful of the history of lacquer, which remains a celebrated national art form in Vietnam today, Oanh Phi Phi seeks to challenge the assumption of form, capacity and definition of this medium, preferring to argue its immersive (as opposed to optical /decorative) powers.

‘Interface’ is the artist’s first solo show in Ho Chi Minh City. This exhibition will be on view until 21 July, 2019.

Associated public programs at The Factory:Saturday 11 May @ 4pm: Artist Oanh Phi Phi (in conversation with Zoe Butt, Artistic Director of The Factory), in a sharing of motivation and intent with her artistic practiceSaturday 13 July @ 4pm: Curator Dr. Phoebe Scott, National Gallery of Singapore, will present a visual and theoretical history of lacquer, focusing on Vietnam in relation to broader South East Asian lacquer practice.

For further enquiries, please contact: art@factoryartscentre.com | +84 (0)28 3744 2589The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 15 Nguyen U Di, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | www.factoryartscentre.com

*See further below for example images of artworks within the Interface exhibition

Notes to the editors:

Oanh Phi Phi (b. 1979, Houston, USA. Currently lives and works in Da Nang). ‘An ancient varnish, Vietnamese lacquer was re-invented as a painting medium during the 20th century. To me this also represents an entire history of painting “becoming lacquer”. I am interested in further exploring this process of acculturation by combining sơn mài with new materials and formats to extend the scope of the medium as image, reflect on cross cultural histories and situate the medium in a broader art discourse. The material qualities of this medium, the deep colors and ever-changing light on a lacquer image demands a different kind of attention and offers a heightened visual experience. ‘ Oanh Phi Phi received her BFA at Parsons School of Design (2002) and a Masters in Art and Investigation at the University of Madrid Complutense (2012). In 2004, she received a Fulbright Grant to research lacquer painting in Hanoi. Since then, Vietnamese lacquer has become central to her work, which focuses on its potential as a painting medium to convey memory or reflection, examining current theories of the image, experimenting with scale and method. Recent exhibitions include: Trees of Life: Knowledge in Material, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore, 2018; Radiant Material, Pro Se, National Gallery Singapore, 2017; The Foliage, Vincom Centre for Contemporary Art, Hanoi, 2017; Undefined Boundaries, Heritage Space, Hanoi, 2017. www.phiphioanh.com

The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (‘The Factory’) is the first purpose-built space for contemporary art in Vietnam, established April 2016. As an independent private initiative, it creates and hosts interdisciplinary activities in order to introduce and expand knowledge of contemporary art and cultural trends, both past and present, in Vietnam. As a social enterprise, The Factory also offers a publicly accessible reading room of art-educational resource; workshop and co-working space; replete with café, bar and restaurant. All profit from the sale of art and business on-site supports the running costs of its Arts Centre. www.factoryartscentre.com

Specula 2007-2009 (front image and directly above)Pictorial installation of Son Ta lacquer painting in barrel domed architectural space on fiberglass reinforced epoxy composite boards, metal structure and glass flooring | 720 x 270 x 390cm

Palimpsest 2011-presentLight projection onto silk using handcrafted ‘lacquerscope’ projectors (lacquer, iron, inox, Kevlar, recycled lenses) and Son Ta lacquer on laminated glass | Dimensions variable