An Doan Nguyen

An Doan Nguyen (b. 1978, Phuc Long, Vietnam) has his education from i.a. from Wimbledon College Of Art, Bachelor Fine Art and Art History at the University of Bergen. He has been purchased by several large players both at home and abroad and has decorated several private and public buildings.

Nguyen's paintings can be described within the photorealist genre. The artist's works are often very detailed and the strokes heavily brushed. Light and shadow are carefully thought out and used in a dramatic and underlining way. Contrasts and dramatic compositions can sometimes be referred to Baroque masters such as Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Velasquez.

At the same time, the artist chooses not to relate within a given genre. The works can therefore vary from an impressionistic, almost abstract expressionist style, to a photorealistic and precise expression. The paintings can appear as broken pieces or fragments from a landscape, a memory or an emotion. Some of the motifs are not slavishly processed but improvised so that elements such as colour, light, shadow and objects change. In this way, the artist's work can open up a more meditative and painterly expression. An expression that at times moves within a dream-like and almost surreal idiom.

In Nguyen's works, whether empty parking lots, deserted streets or abandoned industrial areas, the absence of people, disturbing elements and noise creates an almost apocalyptic mood, often in stark contrast to the artist's non-traditional color scheme. Color tones that can move from cool blue, light turquoise to magenta.

Although Nguyen's works can vary greatly in theme and motif, one and the same work can express both deep loneliness and a vibrating spark of life.