However, what he was taught and is now teaching has little to do with the painting style he has chosen. His imagery – women and children, beautiful girls playing music, flowers and grass, cows and buffaloes – is rendered by generalised linear figures in a minimalistic way. Unmindful of tense scenes and and never bothering with describing events or minute detail, his work comes across as a game, like children scribbling on the ground, with only the combination of fairly refined colours and use of shades testifying to the artist’s skill. His work breathes innocence even when he wants to express mature philosophical thought.

Although his work wavers between naive figuration and abstraction, his influences lie clearly in established folklore and cultural traditions. ”I love Vietnamese folklore, I’ve grown up with it, ” says Minh, ”It is in the lullabies by which my mother soothed me into sleep”. Though these themes he is able to reinforce his concepts of Vietnamese identity. ”Life is multi-faceted” says Minh, ”An artist must choose for himself an appropriate area of expression. I’m striving to get at the spiritual aspect of things, at that something beyond the visible which keeps escaping me”.

Returning Home Children with cows One for all My home Under the sun               Yellow Autumn Spring Playing with buffalo Waiting to enter Woman with buffalo Dreaming of you               Homecoming Serenade Dancing at midnight Girls with blikes and flowers Girl with bike Flowergirls   Prices are subject to confirmation by La Luna Gallery