» To the terror of the lone lake

Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s (1809–1849) poem The Lake, in which the writer voices his terror standing amid his dark and fearsome surroundings, Do Hoang Tuong’s painting depicts a figure standing in the water, wearing a suit and tie, with only a pair of white briefs underneath. Though the man is quite alone, the Night of Poe is rendered much brighter, blues swirling around his ankles, sunny ochres morphing past his head. In his attire he appears out of place – an alien disrupting the calm of the lake. And yet in his relaxed shoulders and stance he seems at ease, his tilt of the head expressing a conflicted “delight” that could make “An Eden of [the] dim lake”. Though the awkward and disjointed relationship between the protagonist and his environment points to the turbulent period in which the painting was created, the artist chooses to approach tumult with a buoyant brush. Far from fear, and again as with Poe, solace is found in the midst of loneliness.

The work is on permanent display at the Khai Sang headquarters, Paragon, HCMC, Vietnam.

(Edited from text excerpts provided by CUC Gallery)