The art exhibition “Dipolar” sponsored by the German Consulate General in HCM City will run from December 3  to 15 at the Museum of Fine Arts at 97A Pho Duc Chinh, District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition will show 30 latest lacquer works from 2005 to 2010 of  Vietnamese German artist Khai Doan.

Dipolar - means two poles, a technical term from physics - indicates the resistance in the things and phenomena of life. The pair of terms such as near and far, young and old, familiar and strange, abstract and concrete and such is extremes but still closely linked to each other and are reflected drastically in the whole works.

The discordant and antagonism created in the works bring different emotions to viewers.   Simple subjects of everyday life are chosen: images of cities, family photos, and some motives of Dong Ho traditional paintings such as : Rat’s wedding, picking coconut, carp watching the moon.

But the technique is quite different and may not be “upon the eye” of the majority to the imagination about lacquer painting. Viewers see less figures in Khai Doan’s paintings, the figurative elements sometimes come together, sometimes melt, or even disappear. This creates a secluded space named “ Khai Doan “ that changes, doubtful, but also full of positive. In all paintings the idea of DIPOLAR is always expressed obviously.

Traditional lacquer technique of Vietnam is used skillfully with Vietnamese lack, gold, silver and mother of pearl, highlighted the depth through multiple layers of paints and grinding.

During the exhibition, the artist and his team will accomplish a performance which is connecting the idea Dipolar with the high quality artistic lacquer ware techniques.  Viewers can observe the transformation of work through each grinding step and this work will be changing daily until the end of the exhibition on December 15.

Khai Doan, a Vietnamese-German artist, graduated of Fine Arts and Design in Germany. He is currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City.  His first exhibition in Vietnam titled “Joint Venture” was held 2005 in Hanoi and HCM City.

Information can be found at the Website: and

Source: SGGP