Ceci n'est pas une guerre – This is Not a War Exhibition at Eli Klein Gallery

I will be participating in Ceci n'est pas une guerre – This is Not a War group show curated by Do Tuong Linh at the Eli Klein Gallery

May 23 – August 23, 2025

Photos courtesy of Eli Klein Gallery

Phi Phi Oanh
Scry - Conceits, 2025
Vietnamese Lacquer on glass in artist frame, magnifying glass
19 5/8 x 21 5/8 x 4 inches (50 x 55 x 10 cm)

Gallery press release:

Eli Klein Gallery is thrilled to present “Ceci N’est Pas Une Guerre - This Is Not A War,” a group exhibition of 17 Vietnamese artists showcasing 24 works. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the exhibition seeks to challenge the long-standing tendency to confine Vietnamese contemporary art within narrow narratives of war, trauma, and survival. Audiences are invited to move beyond inherited narratives and experience the breadth, complexity, and vitality of Vietnamese contemporary art today: unbound, unpredictable, and charged with energy.

The exhibition prompts a reconsideration of how Vietnamese visual culture is presented within a global context. While artists have engaged deeply with the past fifty years of history after the War, their works have often been interpreted through the lens of the aftermath. Within the context of Vietnam's massive economic reforms, the artists critically explore themes of identity, censorship, and queerness. The exhibition focuses on a younger generation of artists who reflect on materiality, memory, and mythology, reimagining self and culture beyond the burden of historical trauma. The exhibition also highlights Vietnamese artists living abroad, particularly in America, France and Germany, whose works address themes of displacement, cultural hybridity, and artistic innovation. Curated by Do Tuong Linh, the show brings together the voices that challenge the notion of “Vietnamese art” as a singular concept, creating a layered dialogue that is poetic and political, introspective and globally engaged.

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