Pipo Nguyen-Duy

Mona Lisa

2016

Archival inkjet print mounted on aluminum Signed and numbered, verso 12 x 18 inches (Edition of 10) 20 x 30 inches (Edition of 7) 30 x 35 inches (Edition of 3) This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Pipo Nguyen-duy writes: “I began living in the United States in 1975 as a Vietnamese refugee. Consequently, cultural identity and cultural authenticity are some of the underlying themes of my visual explorations. Additionally, site-specificity has been an integral part of my studio practice, as I always consider geographical, historical, and cultural significance of the locations in my research. “From 2015 to 2017, I made photographs from my hotel window in Ho Chi Minh City, District 1. The second-floor window offered a commanding view of the alley where it widened before the sharp left turn located under my hotel where it became narrow again. The alley served as a short cut between the congested street where it began and ended at a crowded market. What separated my camera from the alleyway was the large glass window to dampen the noise and the thin white curtain for privacy. I spent close to six months in this sixty-four square-foot hotel room, photographing obsessively from six in the morning until late at night, only taking breaks to eat or to sleep. During my process, I remained as objective as a scientist gathering visual data. The camera tripod allowed me to keep the same perspective of the scenes outside my window throughout the day. “With this work, I aim to document, as if from the perspective of a natural scientist or archeologist. Using the camera to record facts rather than regarding it as a subjective tool, I have become increasingly intrigued with the idea of mapping my ‘own’ culture in hopes of understanding it from an outsider’s point of view using the hotel room as a metaphor for an in-between place. The window curtain was the variable that changed, in addition to the light, which also varied throughout the day. The curtain was a literal veil to the world and the culture outside my window. It serves as a metaphor for the lack of clarity and insight that I may have of my culture. From the alley I am hidden or visible depending on how wide the curtain was kept and the time of the day. The neatly arranged architecture seen from my window illustrated the rich history and the complex transition of the Vietnamese culture from French colonial, to American modernist, to contemporary high-rise. “The project began as a survey to categorize different types of people, record gestures and behavior, map traffic patterns, and capture ‘decisive’ moments of street scenes below. Conceptually, I intended this mapping project only to reveal my difficulties of defining home—however as the project grew, the complexities of the images also have become more layered. The first image of the series revealing a man masturbating at 6:00 a.m. while leaning against his scooter below the hotel window addresses the voyeuristic nature of the project. In one set of pictures...

Archival pigment print Signed, titled, numbered, and dated, verso 17 x 11 inches, sheet (Edition of 15) 22 x 17 inches, sheet (Edition of 15) This photograph is offered by ClampAr...

Synchronised swimming in the Blue - Signed limited edition archival pigment print, 2021 - Edition of 5 Indian Ocean 2021 This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm , Acid-free and lignin-free paper, Museum quality paper for highest age resistance and a popular alternative to analogue baryta paper). The inks used are also known for their longevity. Signed + numbered by artist with certificate of authenticity. Archival pigment print available sizes ( Image size , the white margin is not counted) : 35 x 52.5 cm / 13,77 x 20,47 in. - Edition of 5 60 x 90 cm / 23,62 x 35,43 in - Edition of 5 Olivier Borde...

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