Dinh Q. Lê

Dinh Q. Lê is a contemporary Vietnamese-American artist known for his unique approach to conceptual art and photography.

Lê's work often explores themes related to Vietnamese identity, culture, and history, particularly in relation to the Vietnam War and its aftermath. He is known for his use of found and archival materials, such as old photographs, film footage, and personal objects, which he incorporates into his art to recontextualize and reinterpret the past.

Biography of Dinh Q. Lê

Dinh Q. Lê was born in 1968 in Ha Tien, and now he resides in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Cambodian-Vietnamese War in the 1970s led to the presence of Khmer Rouge forces in the Ha Tien area. In 1978, when the artist was ten years old, his family escaped from the region.

Following a year-long stay in Thailand, the family eventually made a transoceanic move and established their new home in Los Angeles.

After obtaining his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lê embarked on his artistic journey. Inspired by the grass-mat weaving lessons from his childhood, he began crafting woven photographs. He furthered his education by earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from The School of Visual Arts in New York.

In 2007, Lê played a key role in establishing the non-profit art venue Sàn Art in Ho Chi Minh City, a collaborative effort that also involved Tiffany Chung, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Phunam Thuc Ha of The Propeller Group.

In 2015, a retrospective of his video installations took center stage at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, marking his inaugural expansive museum exhibition in Asia.

In 2018, Lê undertook the role of curator for "Guerilla Tactics," a solo exhibition showcasing the contemporary ceramics of artist Nguyen Quoc Chanh at MoT+++ in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Presently, he serves as a constituent of the peer committee for Art Network Asia and holds a position on the international council of the Asia Society.

Dinh Q. Lê has been honored with various accolades, including The Prince Claus Fund Award (2010), the Gunk Foundation Public Project Grant (1998), The Dupont Fellowship (1994), the NEA Fellowship in Photography (1994), and The Aaron Siskind Fellowship (1992).

Dinh Q. Lê's Art Style

In his early artistic endeavors, Lê employed a technique of intricately weaving strips of photographs together, resulting in expansive photographic montages. Through this distinctive method, Lê layered images repetitively and in a patterned manner, culminating in lustrous tapestries crafted entirely from type C prints.

In 1999, Lê achieved his first significant success with 'Mot Coi Di Ve,' a creation where he intricately integrated thousands of photographs to form a quilt-like composition. The title of this work was drawn from the renowned Vietnamese song, 'Spending One's Life Trying to Return Home.

Lê's significant creations chronicle the untold narratives of survivors who endured the early years of helicopter warfare.

In 2010, the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented Lê's video exposition titled 'The Farmers and the Helicopters.' This three-channel video presentation featured scenes from the Vietnam War along with interviews with Vietnamese individuals. Notably, the exhibition incorporated a functional helicopter meticulously crafted by Lê and a collaborator from scratch. This immersive installation was subsequently acquired for the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.