Danh Vo
Artist / Sculptor

Danish artist Danh Vo (b. 1975, Bà Rịa, Vietnam) dissects the public forces and private desires that define individual experience. His work addresses sweeping cultural and political themes, but refracts them through intimate personal narratives – what the artist calls “the tiny diasporas of a person’s life.” Seen together in this survey exhibition, the sculptures, photographs, and works on paper that he has created over the past fifteen years circle a central paradox: that the self is plural and inherently fluid, yet decisively shaped by larger power structures.

Emerging from personal relationships and fortuitous encounters, Vo’s projects take their final form as objects and images that have accrued shifting layers of meaning in the world, whether through their former ownership, their proximity to specific events, or their currency as universal icons. A son’s last letter home from a distant land, a father’s cherished wristwatch, a marriage certificate, and a glittering chandelier become charged conduits of history and identity. Vo sometimes presents these items untouched, allowing their internal contradictions to quietly unravel through a simple act of re-contextualization. Others are dismembered or combined with new partners in a vivid compression of themes and eras. Within this approach, the artist’s family history – which arcs from wartime Vietnam through displacement and immigration to Europe – is used as a readymade material like any other, intertwining with the many lives and deaths spanning centuries and continents that are evoked.

[Guggenheim]

Danh Vo
Artist / Sculptor

Danish artist Danh Vo (b. 1975, Bà Rịa, Vietnam) dissects the public forces and private desires that define individual experience. His work addresses sweeping cultural and political themes, but refracts them through intimate personal narratives – what the artist calls “the tiny diasporas of a person’s life.” Seen together in this survey exhibition, the sculptures, photographs, and works on paper that he has created over the past fifteen years circle a central paradox: that the self is plural and inherently fluid, yet decisively shaped by larger power structures.

Emerging from personal relationships and fortuitous encounters, Vo’s projects take their final form as objects and images that have accrued shifting layers of meaning in the world, whether through their former ownership, their proximity to specific events, or their currency as universal icons. A son’s last letter home from a distant land, a father’s cherished wristwatch, a marriage certificate, and a glittering chandelier become charged conduits of history and identity. Vo sometimes presents these items untouched, allowing their internal contradictions to quietly unravel through a simple act of re-contextualization. Others are dismembered or combined with new partners in a vivid compression of themes and eras. Within this approach, the artist’s family history – which arcs from wartime Vietnam through displacement and immigration to Europe – is used as a readymade material like any other, intertwining with the many lives and deaths spanning centuries and continents that are evoked.

[Guggenheim]

  • 1 a 1 Affinità
    Nov 22, 2023 – Feb 29, 2024
    ON House Milano
    Milan, Italy
    1 a 1 Affinità is a group show celebrating the relationship between different artistic expressions and their surrounding context. The exhibition takes place at ON House Milano: a charming location in the heart of Milano, which used to be the Azucena workshop of Architect Caccia Dominioni. The combination of space, artwork, and the artworks between them invites the audience to discover, through research and observation, that “spark” of affinity generated by perception. The path follows the thin line that defines different artistic languages, such as figurative art and abstract art, but also performance, photography, NFT, happening, video and installation. And everything with the utmost respect to the historical heritage and design purpose of the house. This was, in fact, the toughest challenge for the curators Anna Kessler and Anna Niutta. They looked for the harmony within different poetics, and created a unique and unexpected domestic experience. An experience deeply related to the visible. Starting from the “Sleeping Girl” (yes, she will be actually sleeping in the bedroom of the house), the exhibition reveals a path through memories and people, mysteries and objects and colors and hopes. And in fact, isn’t the bed the one, true realm of imagery and imagination, dreams and visualizations? Every night, as we lay our day down, we practice the art of letting go. We leave our conscious thoughts, our rational mind behind, and we agree to see, and be seen  –  we accept to yield control. And as we do that, we gift ourselves to the domain of imagery  –  key and vehicle to those intimate, submerged places and spaces. At night, it is instinct and imagery that guide our experience. Research on the visible is a challenge to observation directed to the observer. There certainly is a real world that we know, but how much of this real world is exhausted in our sensory experience? Through the dialogue between works, the observer discovers similarities between different languages that ultimately prove to be distant only in appearance. Different artistic means manage to generate, through perception, a living impression in continuous dialogue with the observer. The common features, or affinities, between the different forms of expression appear very clear at times: the figurative often finds itself drawing from elements that are not properly its own, and the non-figurative struggles to disregard sensory reality that is also perhaps only an illusion. To what degree is our sensory perception conditioned by our inner state and to what extent is it – instead – influenced by our surroundings? The show will be featuring the following artists: Michele Dal Bosco, Louise Daniel, Giovanni De Benedetto, Laura Grinberga, Alessandro Grimoldieu, Rosanna Iob, Rebecca Loro, Guenda Nocentini, Carolina Pozzi, Maddalena Tesser, Maria Giovanna Zanella. With the precious contribution of Annalisa Iob. Everything was made possible by the vision of Fabio Tacchinardi. Curated by Anna & Anna On House Milano, Via Passione 8, Milan, Italy Vernissage by invitation only For more information: art@onhousemilano.com
  • The Unspoken Things
    Photo Series
    Wlasta Laura
    The Moravian folk costume (kroj) is a traditional clothing ensemble that originates from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic. This costume reflects the cultural heritage and history of the Moravian people. The Moravian folk costume typically consists of various garments and accessories that vary depending on the specific region within Moravia. (more…)
  • Tarnanthi 2023
    Publication
    Thames & Hudson Australia
    International
    Tarnanthi 2023 is an up-to-the-minute survey of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, featuring ambitious and innovative works of art by artists from around the nation. The Tarnanthi 2023 catalogue showcases the ambitious, innovative and up-to-the-minute works of art exhibited at the acclaimed Tarnanthi Festival of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. (more…)