Both of them belong to the second post-doi moi generation. Both followed the 2000-2005 course at the Hà Nội Fine Arts College. Both graduated in 2005.
Seems that their common points just stop at this, Considering their painting styles, brush wielding systems, they are a far cry from each other.
Dinh Quoc Vu quietly deals with household tools: jars, cups, oil lamps, fruit… imbuing them with his meditations on life. He won the third prize at the “Jeune Regard” competition in 2005 organised by L’Espace- the Hà-Nội-based French Cultural Center.
Ta Dinh Khiem is frankly abstractionist. Wallowing in the hectic rhythm of everyday life, he passionately explores its resonances in his mind.
For all this, beneath their apparent styles quite different from each other, they are fundamentally introspective. In
Dinh Quoc Vus painting , a glass of limpid water, a tuft of garli, a dead little bird… all hint at his cogitations on Being. In
Ta Dinh Khiems , clashes in everyday life merge in reververations of the subconscient, giving his work a spiritual dimension. And there, again their paths cross.
Two moods contrasting yet complementary to each other.
Two parts of a harmonious concert.
Paintings by Dinh Quoc Vu
"My art is the lifetime. The lifetime is originated from the unconscious, the lifetime is abstract, or the lifetime belongs to visible conformation. I always keep trying to work constantly and frequently so as to enrich the spirit and perfection of my own artworks"- Dinh Quoc Vu.
Paintings by Ta Dnh Khiem
“ I draw paintings to explore my interior feelings. They are the feelings, originated from the most natural things of my surrounding life. They are maybe rains or sun lights or nothing, but they are the way they are in my mind. Probably, they belong to yesterday, today, or tomorrow also. However, they and I have met each other in artworks.”- Ta Dinh Khiem.
