Propeller Group's Subversive Paintings in Ho Chi Minh City Challenge Vietnamese Censorship

The Propeller Group recently presented two exhibitions of new paintings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. These works subtly incorporate subversive content into Vietnam's heavily censored art scene. One particularly striking piece depicts fire consuming a Mercedes, creating a mesmerizing yet frightening effect. Separately, writer Joe Fyfe visited studios of several artists in Hanoi during his second dispatch from the Vietnamese capital, including Vu Dan Tan, Maritta Nurmi, Phuong Nguyen Linh, and Pham Ngoc Duong. Fyfe recalled visiting an aging American painter who spent formative years in Paris before returning to the United States. Hanoi's art scene features numerous galleries catering primarily to tourists, selling hundreds of decorative paintings that occasionally show surprising interest. More adventurous local artists also produce commercial paintings. Rienke Enghardt and Tran Trung Tin exhibited at Art Vietnam gallery in Hanoi.