Born in 1972 in Hải Phòng, Nguyễn Ngọc Dân graduated from Hanoi Fine Arts University in 1966. Specializing in portraits and landscapes, Dân shifted to depict an urbanized Hanoi with all of its contemporary features. His paintings of Hanoi corners under a tangle of electric wires have pushed the boundaries between traditional and modern art.

Dan’s latest exhibition, entitled “Inner Channeling”, held earlier this month at Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, Dan featured new artworks on the same theme: wires, electric poles, loud speakers, and messy and stuffy in the city. Dân told VOV: “I’ve closely followed every single change to electric wires in Hanoi streets. Electric wire systems have been placed underground along the city's major streets for a less cluttered look. I’m racing against time to capture Hanoi’s corners tangled with electric wires, first sketching them and then turn them into oil-on-canvas  paintings.”


Nguyễn Ngọc Dân said Hanoi streets tangled with electric wires, poles, and loudspeakers, keep haunting him as he travels to each of the small alleys of Hanoi, like Khâm Thiên, Văn Chương, and Thổ Quan. Painter Trần Văn Trù, Dân’s teacher, told VOV: “Dân is a young artist who dares to explore new subjects in his paintings. Other people would not notice such humble things and then turn them into artworks. His paintings look simple yet sophisticated and they express well the artist’s feelings."

Painter Đào Hải Phong said he loves Dân’s idea of introducing simple daily life subjects into his art: “Dân has a special feeling for Hanoi’s electric wires and this explains his beautiful paintings of contemporary Hanoi with its tangle of electric wires. The feelings vary in different paintings, but Dan’s very consistent in the topic he pursuits.”

The image of a Hanoi with tangled electrical wires in Dân’s paintings reflects a Hanoi on a path of development and reveal the painter’s love for Hanoi as and his concern about every small change to his beloved city.