On the evening of October 2, the second UOB Painting of the Year Awards ceremony in Vietnam was held in Ho Chi Minh City. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Ma The Anh, Director of the Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam.
As the top winner in the "Established Artist" category, artist Nguyen Viet Cuong received a cash prize of VND500 million and will compete for the prestigious UOB Painting of the Year Southeast Asia award in 2024 with winning artists from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Artist Nguyen Viet Cuong's work "Flow" cleverly uses two indigenous materials, coal and rice flour, to depict the story of Vietnam's natural resources.
The artist meticulously processed, cleaned, and ground the coal into pebbles before sieving and sprinkling them onto the canvas. Rice was ground into powder, mixed with glue, and a funnel was used to shape the solution so that it flowed down the black coal layer.
In the "Promising Artist" category, artist Phan Tu Tran took home the Most Promising Artist of 2024 award with her work "Doraeco". Tu Tran's work consists of 6 cards arranged on a casino table, each representing a different aspect of ecological pollution: land (J of diamonds), water (Q of hearts), air (K of spades), energy (Q of clubs).
The winning works from both the “Established Artist” and “Promising Artist” categories of the second annual UOB Painting of the Year competition in Vietnam will be on display at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The exhibition is open to the public for free from 5 October to 20 October 2024, from 8am to 5pm.
