Thu Van Tran

Thu Van Tran is a contemporary artist currently based in Paris, France. Known for her multidisciplinary and conceptual approach, she invites viewers to engage with complex themes and contemplate the multifaceted nature of identity and history.

Thu Van Tran's Biography 

Thu Van Tran was born in 1979 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She pursued her studies in various institutions and obtained degrees in different fields related to fine arts and design. In 2000, she received her Bachelor's degree from the Environmental Design Department at the Glasgow School of Art in the United Kingdom. Following that, in 2001, Tran trained at the Coubertin Foundry located in Saint-Rémy Les-Chevreuses, France. Later she studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Paris (ENSB-A) and received an MFA with distinctions. During her time at ENSB-A, she also participated in an Exhibition Practice Seminar directed by Christian Bernard, which provided her with valuable insights into the practical aspects of exhibiting artwork.

Thu-Van Tran's work gained recognition when it was included in the Viva Arte Viva exhibition at the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. She was acknowledged by VICE as one of the "9 Breakout Artists from the Venice Biennale" for her diverse works, which encompassed wall paintings and sculptures of the rubber tree. 

Currently, she teaches at the Paris College of Art, sharing her knowledge and experience with aspiring artists.

Thu Van Tran's art style and artworks

Thu Van Tran's art style delves into the realms of history, literature, and architecture, exploring the intricate connections between cultures, languages, and identities.

A recurring motif in Thu-Van Tran's art is rubber, referring to the exploitation endured by Vietnamese rubber plantation workers amidst Europe's growing demand for latex rubber in the mid-19th century. In her site-specific installation "Penetrable," exhibited at Unlimited 2019, she painted the gallery walls with a mixture of rubber and chemical pigments, creating a transformative second skin. In another work from her first solo show with Almine Rech in Paris, titled "Trail Dust" (2019), she featured bronze rubber tree leaves scattered on the gallery floor.

Through her art, Thu-Van Tran also confronts the impact of Western dominance and the United States military's use of toxic chemicals, such as Agent Orange, that were dropped during the Vietnam War and continue to cause environmental and health problems. In her ongoing large-scale photography series, "From Green to Orange" (2020), she depicts a chemically altered jungle tinted in red. The resulting image varies in color intensity and hue depending on the viewer's perspective.

In her solo exhibition "H as Homme" (2020) at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle in Munich, Thu-Van Tran expanded her exploration into the history of human warfare and conflicts. One significant series within the exhibition, titled "Rainbow Herbicides" (2020), featured black-and-white images portraying a massive cloud reminiscent of a natural disaster or bomb explosion, over which Tran painted a row of dripping blobs of colors.