les presses du réel

Monsoon Melody

Thao Nguyen Phan - Monsoon Melody
First monographic catalogue dedicated to multimedia artist Thao Nguyen Phan, whose recent video and visual works explore the agricultural, political, and social issues in rural Vietnam.
Thao Nguyen Phan work builds a multi-layered, visual, thrilling and poetical body of work which goes beyond a purely historical or political point of view and explores current questions on food security and our ecological responsibility towards agricultural environments. Through different levels of narrative and speaking simultaneously of real and imaginary worlds, she proposes alternate versions of reality. Co-edited by Fundació Joan Miro, WIELS and Chisenhale Gallery with the support of Galerie Zink Waldkirchen, the publication Monsoon Melody features a large array of images (watercolors and stills from her films) and texts that provide a broad overview of Thao Nguyen Phan's latest work. In addition to an interview with the artist by Hilde Teerlinck (curator and CEO of the Han Nefkens Foundation) and a contribution by Han Nefkens (writer, art collector, and founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation), the book contains the films' subtitles as well as a collection of essays: Thomas D. Trummer (director of Kunsthaus Bregenz) explores the meeting of poetry and politics in Phan's films; Pamela N. Corey (lecturer in South East Asian Art at SOAS University of London) discusses the narrative strategies used to produce alternative histories; and Zoë Gray (senior curator at WIELS, Brussels) looks into play as a way of delving into serious social, political, and cultural issues. An excerpt from a curatorial essay by Sam I-Shan comments upon the film Tropical Siesta, while Phan provides insight into Mute Grain and Becoming Alluvium. The book ends with a poetic appendix written by Lila Matsumoto.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at WIELS, Brussels, from February 1st to April 24, 2020.
Through literature, philosophy and daily life, Thao Nguyen Phan (born 1987 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where she lives and works) observes ambiguous issues in social convention, history and tradition. An honours graduate from Singapore's Lasalle College of the Arts in 2009, four years later Phan received an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Today, in addition to her work as a multimedia artist, she has joined forces with artist Trương Công Tùng and curator Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần to form Art Labor. This collective explores cross-disciplinary practices and develops art projects that will benefit the local community. Thao Nguyen Phan is expanding her “theatrical fields”, including what she calls performance gesture and moving images. Phan has exhibited widely in Southeast Asia and is a 2016-2017 Rolex Protégée, mentored by internationally acclaimed, New York-based, performance and video artist, Joan Jonas.
Texts by Zoë Gray, Sam I-Shan, Lila Matsumoto, Han Nefkens, Pamela Nguyen Corey, Thao Nguyen Phan, Thomas D. Trummer, interview with the artist by Hilde Teerlinck.

Published with the Han Nefkens Foundation, with the support of Fundació Joan Miro, WIELS, Chisenhale Gallery, Galerie Zink Waldkirchen.

 
published in January 2020
English edition
16,5 x 24 cm (softcover)
224 pages (color & b/w ill.)
 
18.00
 
ISBN : 978-88-6749-397-5
EAN : 9788867493975
 
in stock


 top of page