2.2.1861

Danh Vo

2009
Ink on paper-writing by Phung Vo
29.6 x 21 cm
Winsing Arts Collection

Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

2.2.1861

Danh Vo

2009
Ink on paper-writing by Phung Vo
29.6 x 21 cm
Winsing Arts Collection

While living in Paris in 2009, Vō discovered a farewell letter written to his father by Jean-Théophane Vénard, a French missionary, before he was executed in 1861. Vénard waited calmly for his death because he refused to stop preaching. Before France colonized Vietnam in the middle of the 19th century, Vietnam took drastic measures against Catholics from France and other Western countries. The French were angered by the execution of Catholic missionaries in Vietnam, then took military action and eventually occupied Vietnam.

1 / 25

No items found.

Artist Biography

Danh Vō

The artist won the first prize at the 2012 Hugo Boss Award and entered the Venice Biennale on behalf of Denmark in 2015. His works and various art projects are also exhibited in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Pompidou Centre in France, the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, M+ in Hong Kong, the Berlin Biennale and the Singapore Biennale, among other large art galleries and exhibitions. He explores the inheritance and construction of cultural conflicts, trauma and values, and addresses issues of history, politics, faith and identity in a poetic way.

ARTIST PAGE