Goethe-Institute Hanoi hosts “Dipolar” by Vietnamese German artist Khai Doan through June 5.  The free art show features contemporary paintings created with traditional Vietnamese lacquer technique.

Doan’s exhibition is displaying 30 lacquer paintings made within the past five years and is one of culture activities during Europe Days in Vietnam, organized by the European Union.

Doan, born in Ho Chi Minh City and raised in Germany, works as a creative director in the advertising industry in both Germany and Vietnam.

Meaning "two poles", “Dipolar” combines contrasts (near and far, young and old, familiar and strange, concrete and abstract).  Doan’s art reflects the productive tension between different poles: an ambivalent mixture of Vietnamese tradition and the fast-paced world of advertising.