» Hanoi in the Fall

In Hanoi in the Fall and A Splash of Winter, Nguyen Trung continues his dialogue with the restrained palette that has haunted his creative practice for decades. The canvas is almost entirely covered in white – a white rendered in layers, with varied textures and densities. Breaking through this quiet field are strokes of aquatic blue, earthy orange patches peeking from beneath, solid black circles, and fleeting touches of fresh green – like scattered sounds punctuating silence, suggesting the rhythm of the seasons and the subtle passage of time.

In these works, Nguyen Trung seems unable, or perhaps unwilling, to let go of his fascination with white – a color he has pursued throughout his career, thought he had abandoned, yet continues to linger. Embedded within the paint are ghostly traces of the familiar imageries often found in his work: stained, moss-covered walls; scribbled letters, symbols and numbers – seemingly meaningless, yet they are among the most poetic reminders of a life once lived.