A solo exhibition by artist Dam Minh, who was born in Vietnam and raised in Poland, regarded as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary watercolor painting, is set to take place from December 9 to December 26, 2025, at the Tien Duong House, within the Temple of Literature in Hanoi.
The exhibition, titled “Forming Identity," brings together more than 200 representative works created by Dam Minh across multiple periods, from 2005 to the present. This is the first time that two decades of his artistic journey are being showcased in a systematic way in Vietnam.
Watercolor - often considered a delicate, elusive, and difficult medium—has become Dam Minh’s greatest strength. He is regarded as one of the rare artists who fully masters watercolor techniques, from diffusion and tonal layering to pigment texture and visual atmosphere.
Yet the appeal of his work lies not only in technique, but in the way he uses it to tell subtle stories of time, light, emotion, and memory.
In many paintings, the central “character” is not a defined figure but a dominant color, an atmosphere, a movement of light, or a thin veil of mist - elements that are intangible, yet become the soul of the artwork through his brushwork. His paintings do not demand interpretation; instead, they unfold slowly and naturally. Each translucent layer, each wash, each shifting light–dark passage sits quietly, allowing emotion to rise for those who linger long enough.
Born in Vietnam and raised in Poland, Dam Minh carries within him two cultures and two distinct memory lines. This creates parallel layers of identity in his art.
In Vietnam, he revisits Hanoi and familiar landscapes with the eyes of someone who has left and returned - both intimate and refreshed. This interplay forms the foundation of his evolving artistic identity.
“Forming Identity” offers viewers a chance to witness how Dam Minh’s practice has shifted - from technique to emotion, from form to color, from space to memory - revealing a coming-of-age narrative in which each painting becomes a chapter of a watercolor autobiography.
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