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Nguyễn Duy Mạnh

Hồn Xiêu (Âmes Errantes) / Pot de Dragon et Cheval (Thạp Long Mã), 2020

hand painted ceramic fired in Bat Trang pottery village, stainless steel

32 x 39 x 3 cm

Inv: NDM_2020-003

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(English below)

[FR] Cette œuvre mobilise le motif du long-mã, créature mythique mêlant dragon et cheval, associée à l’ordre cosmique, au savoir et à la transmission de signes sacrés. Peinte en bleu cobalt dans l’esprit des céramiques vietnamiennes bleu et blanc, la figure évolue parmi nuages et vagues, évoquant une circulation entre ciel et terre.

À l’origine récipient de stockage, le pot a été découpé, aplati et suspendu, perdant son volume et sa fonction. La frise décorative, autrefois enveloppante, se trouve ici déplacée et étirée sur une surface semblable à une peau.

Dans Hồn Xiêu (Âmes errantes), cette transformation renvoie au « hồn », l’esprit errant détaché du corps. La figure mythique demeure visible, mais sa puissance vacille, dérivant dans une forme fragmentée où la structure se dissout en mémoire.
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[EN]This work draws on the motif of the long-mã, a mythical creature combining dragon and horse, traditionally associated with cosmic order, knowledge, and the transmission of sacred signs. Rendered in cobalt blue in the style of Vietnamese blue-and-white ceramics, the creature moves through clouds and waves, evoking circulation between heaven and earth.

Originally a storage vessel, the pot has been cut, flattened, and suspended, losing its volume and function. The decorative band, once wrapping around the body of the object, is now displaced and stretched across a skin-like surface.

Within Hồn Xiêu (Wandering Souls), this transformation reflects the "hồn", the wandering spirit detached from the body. The mythical figure remains visible, but its power is unsettled, drifting within a fragmented form where structure dissolves into memory.

About the artist

Nguyễn Duy Mạnh

Vietnamese

b. 1984

Nguyễn Duy Mạnh (b. 1984, Vietnam) a graduate of the College of Education with a specialization in Fine Arts teaching, Duy Mạnh is a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association. Since 2006, he has worked with diverse media and materials including painting, fabric, found objects, and ceramics. In his work, he strives to reveal the spiritual life of objects and matter through manipulation and the arrangement of exhibition spaces.
Through his practice, Nguyễn Duy Mạnh seeks to highlight the vulnerability and disintegration of cultural values. He reflects the trauma that unsettles the spiritual life of individuals confronted with contemporary realities. His ceramics draw inspiration primarily from the Chu Đậu ceramic style. The artist reinvents this traditional practice by painting motifs from the Lý-Trần period (11th–14th centuries) and the Lê Sơ dynasty (15th century). Yet, these works also carry a subtle critique of contemporary Vietnamese society, where traditional values of respect and community collide with individualism, materialism, and consumerism.

A selection of his exhibitions includes: Art Paris, 2026; First Bone, Then Skin…, Galerie Bao, 2025; Dirty & Disorderly: Contemporary Artists on Disgust, MASSMoCA, Massachusetts, 2025; Untamed Souls, Galerie BAO, Paris, 2024; Becoming Alice: Through The Metal Tunnel, The Outpost, Hanoi, 2024; The Inner Space, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, Hanoi, 2016; Yin and Yang in Contemporary Sculpture, The Muse Art Space, Hanoi, 2023; Vietnam National Fine Arts Exhibition, Hoa Lư, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2020; Bịt mắt bắt dê, Ngo Quyen Art Center, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2019; among others.
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