Nguyen Manh Hung

Biography
Nguyen Manh Hung's art is always delivered with a heavy dose of humour and play. As a multi-disciplinary artist, he is equally at ease painting as he is creating large-scale installations or exploring sound art. Growing up in post-war Hanoi with his grandfather and father who once served in the military, Hung has developed a practice of unpacking the dual nature of individualism within a community. He also depicts comically absurd situations arising from the rapid process of urbanization and modernization through images of apartment blocks, military equipment, and vehicles sponsored by the Communist bloc. He playfully juxtaposes symbolisms that are highly contrasted in terms of time periods, materiality, and speed  such treatment has since become the artist's signature style. Nguyen Manh Hung also has a habit of reiterating his subject matters across different mediums: from sketches to paintings to sculptures, and eventually realizing the works into life-size interactive installations.
 
Nguyen Manh Hung has participated in numerous regional and international exhibitions. Notable shows include Asia Young 36, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonbuk, Korea; All Aboard, Farmers Got Power and One Planet, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Mien Meo Mieng/Contemporary Art from Vietnam, Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; Living Together in Paradise, Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam; Tam Ta, San Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Connect: Kunstzene Vietnam, ifa Galleries, Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany; Lim Dim: Young Vietnamese Artists, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway; transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA; and Thermocline of Art, New Asian Waves, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany. Nguyen has held residencies at Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL), Vitry-sur-Seine, France; Creative Fusion, Cleveland, Ohio; Asian Cultural Council, New York, NY; and Art Omi International, Ghent, NY.
 
From 2008 to 2011, Nguyen Manh Hung was Art Director of Nha San Studio (now known as Nha San Collective)  the first non-profit artist-led space for contemporary art in Hanoi founded in 1998.
 
Hung currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City.
Works
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Through the narrow gate no. 1, 2023
    Through the narrow gate no. 1, 2023
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Through the narrow gate no. 2, 2023
    Through the narrow gate no. 2, 2023
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Through the narrow gate no. 3, 2023
    Through the narrow gate no. 3, 2023
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Through the narrow gate no. 4, 2023
    Through the narrow gate no. 4, 2023
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Through the narrow gate no. 5, 2023
    Through the narrow gate no. 5, 2023
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 2, 2021
    All Aboard No. 2, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 3, 2021
    All Aboard No. 3, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 4, 2021
    All Aboard No. 4, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 5, 2021
    All Aboard No. 5, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 6, 2021
    All Aboard No. 6, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 7, 2021
    All Aboard No. 7, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard No. 8, 2021
    All Aboard No. 8, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, All Aboard, 2021
    All Aboard, 2021
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Soldier, Caterpillar and Peony, 2020
    Soldier, Caterpillar and Peony, 2020
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Medical Officers, 2020
    Medical Officers, 2020
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, The King Roaming, 2020
    The King Roaming, 2020
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Secret In The Chest, 2019
    Secret In The Chest, 2019
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Hidden Place No. 1, 2019
    Hidden Place No. 1, 2019
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Summer Night, 2019
    Summer Night, 2019
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Soldier With Snail, 2018
    Soldier With Snail, 2018
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Logistic Man, 2018
    Logistic Man, 2018
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Midnight Business, 2017
    Midnight Business, 2017
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, The Monument of Glory, 2017
    The Monument of Glory, 2017
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Checkpoint, 2016
    Checkpoint, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, In Case of Emergency, 2016
    In Case of Emergency, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Protecting the Location, 2016
    Protecting the Location, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, A Happy Soldier, 2016
    A Happy Soldier, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Le Petit Tirailleur, 2016
    Le Petit Tirailleur, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Guard at Night, 2016
    Guard at Night, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Practice with Snails, 2016
    Practice with Snails, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Snails on the Deck, 2016
    Snails on the Deck, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Hero at The Station, 2016
    Hero at The Station, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Soldier and Snail, 2016
    Soldier and Snail, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Le Tirailleur de l'Annamite, 2016
    Le Tirailleur de l'Annamite, 2016
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Clear for take off, 2014
    Clear for take off, 2014
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Relax, 2014
    Relax, 2014
  • Nguyen Manh Hung, Common enemy, 2014
    Common enemy, 2014
Exhibitions