Art Taipei 2019
Taipei, Taiwan
18 - 21 October 2019
Guillermin’s images are restless but regimented: at times intricate, at others expansive. They recall the childlike sophistication (as well as the sub-tropical tableaux) of Henri Rousseau.
It is escapism afforded to the viewer as much as the artist, as the eye skips then alights, lost in the contours of a leaf, or locked on an eye appearing from undergrowth,
“A story where the dream is confused with reality.”
Born in Villeurbanne, France, in 1975, Karine currently divides her time between her home country and Japan, and her works are a mirror of that. French expressiveness with Japanese-inspired detailing collide to become dreamily compelling compositions: the petals of a large marshmallow flower; aquatic mollusks loitering in the air; a rainbow firework bursting to life. They are hypnotic, because, like Rousseau said,
“Beauty is the promise of happiness.”
Nguyen Thi Chau Giang is an established and important artist, renowned for her works on the roles of women in Vietnam’s society. She has participated in several international exhibitions and her works are found in the permanent collections of museums.
The dragon is an animal that was born from the imagination, but exists throughout human history - a symbol for both power and strength. In Vietnam and Asia, the Dragon is the power of life, a symbol of goodness, luck and prosperity, is symbolic of the best and noble things in human life. In the West, the dragon is often described as a wicked creature capable of spitting fire, and often represented for evil forces. Because of his ability to appear and disappear suddenly, as well as his own antagonistic properties, the Dragon is full of internal contradictions - it is very lissome but extremely powerful, very true but is the image of the imagination only, clear but vague, a good character but also a villain, is an ancient character but still up to date.
And so she borrowed the image of the dragon to talk about the inner contradictions within a person in general and the fate, the characters of the Vietnamese Women in particular. We’re living in a world where values are upside down, people are increasingly torn between conflicts, between the virtues of good/positive (Blue Dragon) and evil/negative (Red Dragon). If not awake, just one minute of weakness, every boundary, value between Good - Bad, Love - Hatred will become extremely fragile or completely inverted.
For Vietnamese women, too, she think that when they’re willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their family, are suffering from the difficulties and disadvantages to bring happiness, joyfulness to their husbands and children - they are hiding in themselves very powerful Dragons. So do not trample, disregard them because they are ready to endure and to stand (bear). As they are cornered, the Dragon hidden deep inside them will surely fly up high and show off their strength!