Nguyễn Duy Mạnh, Lost spirit, 2017–23, ceramic. Installation view. From “Becoming Alice: Through the metal tunnel.” Photo: Chimnon Studio.
“Some plates have their surfaces scratched, carved, and peeled to expose crimson-glazed open wounds, while other vessels are chopped and maimed with ceramic blood drops pooling beneath. The centerpiece of this phantasmagorical feast is the severed head of a qilin—the guardian beast for prosperity in East Asian mythologies—now served half-flayed and white-eyed with disbelief. These ceramic cadavers thus transform into metaphors for his anguish at the commodification and consumption of forlorn craftsmanship and artistic creativity by neoliberal structures of capitalism.”
Artwork photo provide by The Outpost Art Organisation.
Read the full review here at Artforum.
