Vu Dan Tan is considered as one of the most important contemporary Vietnamese artists from the 1980s until his untimely death in 2009. The self-taught artist, together with his wife Natalia Kraevskaia, founded Salon Natasha in the 1990s, the first private experimental creative art space in Hanoi. He forged a new vocabulary and vocation for visual artists in Vietnam, and broke from the traditional Vietnamese beaux-arts tradition, creating multi-media cross-disciplinary practices. Tan was known for his unique and intriguing artistry of applying recycled and abandoned everyday materials to his works, such as carton boxes. Tan’s work varied in scale and medium, from collages of cigarette packets, which he cut and painted to life-size temple and boat installations made of appliance boxes. Vu Dan Tan’s Venuses--cut out corset armor made of card-board paper, have come to symbolize the artist’s works in the last decade of his life. His work has been widely exhibited and collected in countries such as France, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Finland, Japan, USA, Singapore and Vietnam.
VU DAN TAN
03.10.1946 – 14.10.2009
Born and died in Hanoi, Vietnam
In 70’s worked in Hanoi television cartoon film studio
1973-1974 - Habana (Cuba) television cartoon film studio
Self- taught.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010
Graphic works by Vu Dan Tan, the State Gallery of Fine Arts, Astrakhan, Russia
Money for all times, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Lithography, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
2006
Factor of Time, , the State Gallery of Fine Arts, Astrakhan, Russia
Tanorigami, Art-U gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002
Other banks, the State Gallery of Fine Arts, Astrakhan, Russia
2001
Vu Dan Tan and Nguyen Quang Huy, Atelier Frank & Lee, Singapore
1999
RienСarNation (with Le Hong Thai), Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
Lion’s masks and Venus, Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam
1996
Muka Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1993
Augusta Savage Gallery, Amherst, MA, USA
Exhibition hall “Passagarda”, Neauphle le Vieux, France
1990
The State Gallery of Fine Arts, Penza , Russia (former USSR)
1989
24 gouaches of Vu Dan Tan, Association of Literature and Art, Hanoi, Vietnam
1988
House of Friendship, cinema hall "Hanoi", Moscow, Russia, former USSR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014
Féminité, Espace Croix-Baragnon, festival ‘Made in Asia’, Toulouse, France
Venus in Vietnam (with Nguyen Nghia Cuong), Fine Art Museum of Ho Chi Minh
city, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2013
Concept, Context, and Contestation, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok,
Thailand
Life Portrait, Namthong Gallery at Aree, Bangkok, Thailand
2012
Venus in Vietnam (with Nguyen Nghia Cuong) , Goethe Insitut, Hanoi, Vietnam
2011
Negotiating Home, History and Nation. Two decades of contemporary art in
Southeast Asia 1991-2011. Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2010
Ascending Dragon: Contemporary Vietnamese Artists, Armory Center for the Arts,
Pasadena (LA), USA
2009
Intersection Vietnam: new Works from North & South, Valentine Willie Fine
Art, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
2008
Post Doi Moi: Vietnamese Art after 1990. Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Beasts, Breasts & Beauty: Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, SG Private
Banking
Gallery, Alliance Francaise, Singapore
2006
Exhibition, organized by the Italian Embassy, Viet Art Center, Hanoi, Vietnam
2005
Out of context, Huntington Beach Art Centre, CA, USA
2003
Melbourneconnectionsasia, Urban Art project, Melbourne, Australia
Subverted Boundaries, Sculpture Square, Singapore
2002
Exhibition with Le Hong Thai. Gallery Art U, Osaka, Japan
2001
8th Sculpture Triennial (Triennale Kleinplastik), Fellbach, Germany
La mer, exhibition of the post art, Pezenas, France
Osaka Triennale, 10th International Contemporary Art Competition, Osaka
Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan
Vietnamese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Tochio Art Museum, Tochio City, Nigata,
Japan
Hanoi. Le Cycle des metamorphoses, Institut Francais d'Architecture, Paris,
France“366/200”, lithography exhibition, Muka Gallery, Auckland, New
Zealand
2000
"Thanh Sac", Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kretzer mail, International project and exhibition, Bregenz, Austria
1999
Gap Vietnam, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
1998-2000
Crosscurrents, touring exhibition in Australia, 10 venues
1998
Spirit of Hanoi, Artist Association of Oulu and BAU-gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Plastic Waste, Asia Pacific Artist Solidarity project, Chulalongkom University,
Bangkok, Thailand
Above and Beyond, Pacific Bridge gallery, Oakland, CA, USA
Crosscurrents, Australian Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam
1997
Being minorities – Contemporary Asian Art. Exhibition 1 – Hong Kong Art Center,
Hong
Kong; exhibition 2 - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Inside, International Art Exhibition accompanying Documenta X, Kassel, Germany
River: New Asian Art – A Dialogue in Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Confluence, Australian Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam
Gift for India, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi and Gallery Chemould, Max Mueller
Bhavan and Artists Centre, Mumbai, India
All the Rivers are running, Trang An Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
1996
The 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery,
Brisbane, Australia
Black and White, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Artists' calendars, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
1995
Music, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Composition: Movement and Immobility, Alliance Francaise, Hanoi, Vietnam
My favorite characters, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Icon of our time, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
1994
Red and Yellow, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Arts and Crafts from Vietnam, The Corner Art Gallery, Peterborough, NH, USA
Vietnam: a view, Augusta Savage Gallery, Amherst, MA, USA.
1993
Stop a la Destruction du Monde, ASIEM, Paris, France
1992
Vietnamese Art Cocktail, International Book Fair, Hong Kong
Abstract Painting, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Mariposa Museum, Peterborough, NH, USA
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
The Australian Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam
The State Gallery of Fine Arts, Astrakhan, Russia
The State Gallery of Fine Art, Penza, Russia
World Bank, Washington, USA
