Pham Tran Viet Nam was born in Da Nang and graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University in 2010. Though initially trained in sculpture, his practice mostly revolves around painting, especially oil painting on canvas. Greatly influenced by rock music and expressionism, his early visual compositions appear tormented, as if engulfed in flame, focusing on peeling apart and exposing each dark corner of rage and violence inside the human mind. From 2014, after overcoming a struggling period of depression, he decided to reinvent himself by dethroning everything that he used to put on a high pedestal, firstly by shredding his old paintings and restructuring the pieces into new works. Nam’s creations convey a message concerning humanity which stems from compassion and his reactions to the perils of the current social context in Vietnam. Art to him is not just labor, but also “a compulsive behavior of a mind in discord” – a state that at times compels anger but at times remains patient and meditative.

Phạm Trần Việt Nam sinh ra tại Đà Nẵng và tốt nghiệp Đại học Mỹ thuật TP. Hồ Chí Minh năm 2010. Tuy được đào tạo về điêu khắc, nhưng anh chủ yếu thực hành hội họa, chất liệu sơn dầu trên vải. Chịu ảnh hưởng từ nhạc rock và trường phái biểu hiện, tạo hình của anh thời kỳ đầu thường gào thét hoặc quằn quại như trong hoả ngục, chú tâm bóc tách từng góc tối tăm, phẫn nộ và thô bạo của con người. Từ năm 2014, sau khi vượt qua giai đoạn trầm cảm khó khăn, anh bắt đầu thực hành phá bỏ tất cả những gì mình đã tôn thờ, thể nghiệm việc cắt nát và tái cấu trúc toàn bộ tranh vẽ cũ. Những sáng tác của Nam trao gửi thông điệp nhân văn từ lòng trắc ẩn và rung cảm của anh trước bối cảnh xã hội của đất nước mà anh đang sống, những điều trần ai trước mắt. Thực hành nghệ thuật đối với anh không chỉ là một công việc, mà đó còn là “hành vi không thể cưỡng lại của trầm cảm”, có lúc dữ dội nhưng cũng có lúc kiên trì và nhẫn nại như thiền định.

Pham Tran Viet Nam was born in Da Nang and graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University in 2010. Though initially trained in sculpture, his practice mostly revolves around painting, especially oil painting on canvas. Greatly influenced by rock music and expressionism, his early visual compositions appear tormented, as if engulfed in flame, focusing on peeling apart and exposing each dark corner of rage and violence inside the human mind. From 2014, after overcoming a struggling period of depression, he decided to reinvent himself by dethroning everything that he used to put on a high pedestal, firstly by shredding his old paintings and restructuring the pieces into new works. Nam’s creations convey a message concerning humanity which stems from compassion and his reactions to the perils of the current social context in Vietnam. Art to him is not just labor, but also “a compulsive behavior of a mind in discord” – a state that at times compels anger but at times remains patient and meditative.

Pham Tran Viet Nam was born in Da Nang and graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University in 2010. Though initially trained in sculpture, his practice mostly revolves around painting, especially oil painting on canvas. Greatly influenced by rock music and expressionism, his early visual compositions appear tormented, as if engulfed in flame, focusing on peeling apart and exposing each dark corner of rage and violence inside the human mind. From 2014, after overcoming a struggling period of depression, he decided to reinvent himself by dethroning everything that he used to put on a high pedestal, firstly by shredding his old paintings and restructuring the pieces into new works. Nam’s creations convey a message concerning humanity which stems from compassion and his reactions to the perils of the current social context in Vietnam. Art to him is not just labor, but also “a compulsive behavior of a mind in discord” – a state that at times compels anger but at times remains patient and meditative.

Pham Tran Viet Nam was born in Da Nang and graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts University in 2010. Though initially trained in sculpture, his practice mostly revolves around painting, especially oil painting on canvas. Greatly influenced by rock music and expressionism, his early visual compositions appear tormented, as if engulfed in flame, focusing on peeling apart and exposing each dark corner of rage and violence inside the human mind. From 2014, after overcoming a struggling period of depression, he decided to reinvent himself by dethroning everything that he used to put on a high pedestal, firstly by shredding his old paintings and restructuring the pieces into new works. Nam’s creations convey a message concerning humanity which stems from compassion and his reactions to the perils of the current social context in Vietnam. Art to him is not just labor, but also “a compulsive behavior of a mind in discord” – a state that at times compels anger but at times remains patient and meditative.