Solo exhibition Soul Energy by Le Huu Hieu in Arsenale Nord, Venice, in 2021. (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Artist Le Huu Hieu (HenryLe) will become the first Vietnamese representative at the 60th BiennaleVenice in Italy, scheduled from April 20 to November 24.
Paolo De Grandis, president of PDG Arte Communications, arepresentative of the 60th Biennale Venice organisation, sent a letter toMinister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung to invite Hieu to takepart in the event.
"We have jointly organised 127 exhibitions at the VeniceBiennal with the presence of numerous countries for the first time, including Andorra,Azerbaijan, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Jamaica, Morocco, Monaco, Estonia, Latvia,Ukraine, Singapore and Ecuador,” Grandis wrote in the invitationletter.
"With more than 30 years of experience collaborating with theVenice Biennale, we believe it will be an important milestone to have Vietnam'sfirst presence after the event’s 129 years of history, represented by talentedartist Henry Le."
The letter also confirms that Hieu was the first Vietnamese and Asianartist to organise a solo exhibition in Arsenale Nord, Venice in 2021.
Entitled Soul Energy, it was curated by Chiara Canali andpromoted by MoCA and Arte Laguna Studio, presenting 40 large-scale pictorialworks and an installation of human-sized iron sculptures.
"I'm waiting for official reply from the ministry ofculture," said Hieu. "I think it is a good chance to bring andintroduce Vietnamese history and culture to the world."
Hieu was born in 1982 in the central province of Ha Tinh.He lives and works in Hanoi. Having been an architect in the past, formore than 10 years Hieu has chosen artistic research as a priority experienceof his life, placing it at the centre of every reflection, idea and visualpractice.
He had a solo exhibition at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museumin 2014. He also took part in the Art Basel Miami and Contemporary Art ProjectsUSA in the US in 2016, and the 11th Florence Biennale da Basso inFlorence, Italy in 2017./.
