Ahead of her first major solo presentation at Milan’s Pirelli HangarBicocca arts gallery, the emerging artist speaks to Tatler about being inspired by sculptor Điêm Phùng Thį and exploring her country’s history through post-colonial lens
One of Vietnam’s most significant artists had quite the back story. Điêm Phùng Thį (1920-2002) was among Vietnam’s first modernist female sculptors; she was also the first woman in the country to graduate from dentistry school. She came to her career in art relatively late, at the age of 40, having first served in the First Indochina War (1946-54) against the French; somewhat ironically, she moved to France soon afterwards and remained there until 1992, when she returned to Vietnam. Last autumn, Điêm’s work unexpectedly popped up at Reincarnation of Shadows, a solo exhibition by 36-year-old Vietnamese artist Thao Nguyen Phan at Pirelli HangarBicocca, a former industrial plant in Milan which has been converted into a non-profit contemporary art institution.
“She was extremely brave, from her political involvement [fighting against the French] to the fact that she made a deliberate choice, leaving a job with a stable income to be an artist,” says Phan of Điêm. Phan’s fascination with Điêm began as a child, when she first encountered her work at a mansion that had been turned into a museum housing the late sculptor’s work run by her foundation. Điêm’s minimalist, rounded sculptures, which she developed while studying under the tutelage of renowned modernist sculptor Antoniucci Volti, captivated Phan. “I really loved her language, the simplicity of forms and materials,” she says.
Phan is based in Ho Chi Minh and is known for her multimedia practice which includes watercolours, sculpture and, perhaps most prominently, film. She is slowly but steadily capturing the international art world’s attention. The Pirelli HangarBicocca exhibition is her first major solo presentation at a Italian institution, and the most recent in a string of international solo exhibitions, most notably her 2020 show at Chisenhale Gallery, Tate St Ives in the UK; and her participation in The Milk of Dreams, the main exhibition at the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, held in 2022.
Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly popular to revive the work of artists who, despite their contributions to their relevant cultural field, whether it be art, music or literature, typically go unmentioned in history books and are missing from school curriculums. This holds especially true for female and non-western artists, particularly in places with colonial histories such as Vietnam. “When I discover artists who are not in art history textbooks, it’s very exciting for me, because it shows another one of the many ways to look and learn about art and history,” says Phan upon discovering Điêm’s work. “And it’s not just in a western-oriented way.”
Set in a sprawling former industrial complex on the outskirts of Milan, Pirelli HangarBicocca is a dream space for any exhibiting artist: the high ceilings and vast space pose a welcome and creative challenge, perfect for displaying Phan’s multidisciplinary practice. The exhibition’s placement—housed in the complex’s “shed”, sandwiched between renowned contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer’s seven staggering towers that make up the permanent installation The Seven Heavenly Palaces (2004-15) and an exhibition of late American conceptual artist James Lee Byar’s massive geometric sculptures—literally contextualises Phan and Điêm’s body of work between two towering legacies.