Artist Vu Hoang Tuan: I have many beautiful memories of Quy Nhon

His two recent consecutive solo exhibitions - “Sitting and Grinning, Coloring” (2024) and “Drifting Away” (2025) - are two poetic and poignant self-portraits in the painting journey of a dreamer drifting through real life...

Listen to yourself

họa sĩ Vũ Hoàng Tuấn — Portrait of artist Vu Hoang Tuan. **Photo: NVCC**

Vu Hoang Tuan was born into a family with an artistic tradition, he grew up surrounded by colors, shapes and the loneliness of creation. His father is painter Luong Lu, his mother is sculptor Vu Xuan Truong, both are talented and individual artists. He composed from a young age, then decided to pursue painting. He graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts in 2000 and worked as a teacher for more than 10 years, then quit to focus on composing. As an introvert, Vu Hoang Tuan deliberately listened to himself, freely following his emotions.

* Were you oriented or at least naturally drawn into the vortex of art from a young age?

- I have loved drawing since I was a child. When I was a naughty child, my mother used to tie my legs to the bed leg to prevent me from destroying it. Gradually, I developed the habit of drawing wherever I sat, drawing whatever I could find. I think that most children have a creative talent. Being born into an artistic environment is just a slight advantage over others.

* People say your grandfather is the prototype of a main character in the novel "Nguoi Binh Xuyen" by Nguyen Hung and he had a great influence on you, is that true?

- My maternal grandfather was a Viet Minh cadre, a historical figure, participating in the revolution in the South during the resistance war against the French. But in fact, in the family, due to the long period of secret revolutionary activities, he left almost no clear mark. However, the stories about him made me love my homeland and my people more since I was young. And it influenced my creative path.

Tác phẩm “Chiều về” của họa sĩ Vũ Hoàng Tuấn. — The work "Afternoon" by artist Vu Hoang Tuan.

* Since he was very young, he had his paintings in international exhibitions...

- Yes. At that time, I was about 10 years old, and my paintings were exhibited in the Soviet Union, Cuba, and some Eastern European countries. At that time, I was even "carried" onto Nghia Binh province television to read something about my paintings, but I was so nervous that I could not speak (laughs).

* You graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts and have been teaching and composing for a long time. Does teaching help your creative process, or sometimes, is it a limitation...

- I taught at a vocational school for more than 10 years. Teaching is a very precious profession, but for me, artistic creation requires a deep silence, reading a lot, thinking a lot and more freedom, so I decided to focus on creativity. It was really a difficult decision.

* It seems that you are very fond of oil painting? And for many years now, you have been creating almost non-stop...

- I mainly use oil paint because it suits my painting style - layered, slow and deep. I paint a lot, I can't remember them all, so there's no point in keeping statistics.

* In your paintings, there always seems to be a sense of contemplation, a deliberate attempt to enter the inner world , more inclined towards self-feeling than visual surface manifestation?

- My moods are sometimes happy, sometimes sad, and so are my paintings. I just try to express everything gently, kindly, and most importantly, be true to myself.

Sit and grin and drift away...

Composing very early, but it was not until the age of 54 that he held his first exhibition "Sitting and Grinning, Coloring" (November 2024). And most recently, in June 2025, he held his second exhibition "Drifting Away". Both exhibitions were held at Maii Art Space (72/7 Tran Quoc Toan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), bringing to the audience nearly a hundred paintings rich in narrative. Vu Hoang Tuan's paintings are not noisy, do not visualize beauty in a market-style, but quietly bring viewers into a surreal, dreamy world with simplified shapes and suggestive compositions.

Tác phẩm “Lặng” (bên trái) và tác phẩm “Duyên ngộ” của họa sĩ Vũ Hoàng Tuấn. — The work "Silence" (left) and the work "Fateful Encounter" by artist Vu Hoang Tuan.

* His first solo exhibition, titled "Sitting and Coloring with a Grinning Face", sounds like a self-mockery...

- “Sitting and grinning…” is my very real mindset when doing an exhibition. Whether it is the first or last time, it is equally important to me, to be truly myself. Last year I was “smiling”, but this year I like to “fly away”. That is also how I named the next exhibition, it reflects my mood and creative journey through each stage. It’s fun… (laughs).

* In the second exhibition, viewers seem to be lured into a drifting world full of nostalgia. Did you intentionally create that or was it a natural flow of emotion?

- The exhibition “Floating Away” is a collection of the floating things I see in my dreams, things that are not real in real life but are very real in my mind. Who hasn’t dreamed, right? There are images that follow me long before they become paintings. And that is how the mood is liberated.

* Some people have noticed that you really like to draw cows, especially images of lonely, silent cows in nature. Why are cows a recurring symbol in your paintings?

- I have loved cows since I was a child, my friends know this. When I was a child, I loved this animal because they are adorable, helpful to life and almost do not ask for anything. Over time, I found them gentle, beautiful, and especially the eyes of cows are expressive eyes. I was attracted by the calmness and understanding in those eyes...

* In your paintings there are also golden sand dunes, resting boats, vast sea and sky... Are those memories of Quy Nhon, where you grew up?

- That's right. Quy Nhon is a place that preserves a beautiful childhood with a few vague, sad features. Quy Nhon is not my hometown in the sense of "where I was born and raised", but when asked where my hometown is, I always accept Quy Nhon as my hometown; for me, it is a place to return to. I love the sea and Quy Nhon sea and many beautiful memories are always imprinted in my paintings.

* You have had many paintings published in newspapers, especially in your hometown. What brought you to illustration?

- I used to illustrate for many newspapers, but for Binh Dinh newspaper (old) and now Gia Lai newspaper, it was like this, a friend of mine chose it himself - because I gave him the right to use my pictures to do whatever he wanted to beautify his hometown newspaper. Just like that, I was very happy… (laughs).

* After two solo exhibitions, do you plan to bring your paintings to display in Quy Nhon - Gia Lai?