10 Chancery Lane Gallery is proud to present acclaimed Vietnamese-American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. “My Ailing Beliefs Can Cure Your Wretched Desires” is a new series of art objects that explore the relationship between mythology, worship, animal extinction, human consumption and political protest.
There are beliefs in Vietnam originating from centuries of ideas in traditional Chinese medicine that consuming rhino horn can cure cancer as well as other illnesses. This has created a global environmental emergency regarding the rhinoceros population across the world, having the most impact specifically in South Africa. Tons of illegal rhino horns from South Africa have been seized en route to Vietnam and China in recent years. As well. Rhinos have recently become extinct in Vietnam.
Similarly, another species, the pangolin is seeing the same plight. Because their scales are believed to treat a multitude of illnesses, illegal pangolin poaching and trading is leading towards the extinction of the species in Southeast Asia, India and West Africa. Tuan Andrew Nguyen explains, “Many mythologies concerning the power of certain animals to cure diseases or give overall health and strength, have led to global economic crime and environmental catastrophes.”
It is that layer of culture and social psychology in which mythical animals, like the dragon, the kirin (qilin麒麟), and the phoenix are believed to be auspicious in Asian cultures and to have influence on all factors of one’s life, such as health, financial success and longevity. Tuan Andrew Nguyen created this series of artworks tapping into the twisted relationship between humans, nature and mythology in Vietnamese culture.
The works from this exhibition play between the fantastical imaginaries of the past and new imaginations of futurism to explore the complexities of our relationship with the natural world as well as the possibilities of an alternative relationship to mythology and nature.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen (B. 1976 in Saigon, Vietnam) returned to Ho Chi Minh City in 2004 after completing a Bachelor of Arts, from the University of California, Irvine, USA and a Master of Fine Art, from the California Institute of the Arts, USA. In 2005, Nguyen and fellow artists Matt Lucero and Phù Nam Thúc Hà co-founded ‘The Propeller Group’, a creative development company specializing in experimental film, music video and original television content. His individual and collaborative art practice has been showcased in Vietnam and abroad. In 2007, Nguyen co-founded San Art in Ho Chi Minh City, an independent artist-run space and reading room, dedicated to the exchange and cultivation of Vietnamese contemporary art, with fellow artists Dinh Q. Lê, Phù Nam Thúc Hà and Tiffany Chung. Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s film “The Island” was included in the 2017 Whitney Biennial of American art.
