New Frontiers

"New Frontiers" was a solo exhibition of works by Nguyen Van Cuong, a dynamic young Vietnamese artist from Hanoi, who spent six weeks as an artist in residence at Pacific Bridge Contemporary Southeast Asian Art. Cuong typically paints with ink and watercolor on hand made rice paper. While in residence at Pacific Bridge Cuong worked for the first time on a large scale painting murals in acrylic on the gallery walls. Nguyen Van Cuong "New Frontiers" was the first exhibition of its kind in the United States - showing Vietnamese art that places hard hitting critical content at the forefront. He is the only Vietnamese artist whose work openly and clearly cuts through the veneer of modern Vietnam to reveal its contradictions. His work raises questions about Vietnamese society which allow us a deeper and more complex perspective from which to inform ourselves about a country and people whose history has long remained enigmatic. For those who are unfamiliar with Cuong's work, or cutting edge contemporary Vietnamese art, this exhibition will challenge existing notions of Southeast Asian art.