Folk Painting: The Remake

Still from Hoa Xuân Ca: Xuân Lam, VTV3

Vẽ lại tranh dân gian (Folk Painting: The Remake) is an ongoing project conceived by Xuân-Lam in 2016, during a time when folk art was deeply unpopular and marginalized within local contemporary art institutions. Through this series, the artist champions the significance of folk paintings while exploring their potential and relevance to contemporary issues.

The project began with the rediscovery of the Hàng Trống folk painting Ngũ Hổ (Five Tigers), a piece that once hung in his grandmother's house. This excavation sparked a deeper exploration of Vietnamese folk art through innovative renditions. What started as an experiment combining pencil drawings with digital gradients evolved over time into human-sized cut-out reliefs, manually painted gradients, and sculptures. Beyond a nostalgic remake, Xuân-Lam’s renditions critically blur the socio-economic divides embedded within these traditions: Hàng Trống catered to Hanoi’s urban dwellers, while Đông Hồ was rooted in the lives of rural farmers. Over time, the project expanded to explore themes of consumerism, globalization, culture fluidity, and the omission of queer narratives.

Beyond his studio practice, Xuân-Lam collaborates with local brands to reinterpret folk paintings as functional daily objects, continuing their historical role in everyday life. He also works with folk art experts to develop new prototypes for the lost Kim Hoàng folk painting. Through revitalizing forgotten folk paintings, Xuân-Lam challenges the Eurocentric division between "fine art" and "craft" and questions the relegation of folk art to categories such as decoration or ethnography—contrasting this with the celebration of Western art as "high art." This idea parallels Walter Mignolo's critique in Museums in the Colonial Horizon of Modernity and Ariella Azoulay's Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism.

From its humble beginnings as a small show in a co-working space—an alternative way to present his work—the project has, by 2024, grown into a museum exhibition, multiple public art projects, and widespread national recognition.

Folk Painting: The Remake
Folk Painting

Folk Painting: The Remake

One Person Show, 2017

Old Quarter Fashion Week (#OQFW)

Vietnam-Korea Joint Project: Art for a Better Space, 2018

Rendezvous between the Old & the New

One Person Show, 2019

#PhucTanGang

Phuc Tan Public Art Project, 2020

Five Tigers, 2020
38.6 x 54.4 x 2.8 inches | 98cm x 138cm x 7cm
Pencil, acrylic, plastic cord, UV ink cut out on Dó paper mounted on wood panel
Nam Huong Communal House, Hang Trong st, Hanoi

Five Tigers, 2021
69 x 51 x 4,5 inches | 175 x 130 x 11,5 cm
Pencil, acrylic, plastic cord, UV ink cut out on Dó paper mounted on wood panel

Peacock, 2021
69 x 43.3 x 4,5 inches | 175 x 110 x 11,5 cm
Pencil, acrylic, UV ink cut out on Dó paper mounted on wood panel

Looking for the Moon, 2021
69 x 43.3 x 4,5 inches | 175 x 110 x 11,5 cm
Pencil, acrylic, UV ink cut out on Dó paper mounted on wood panel

Mighty Tiger (Dutch version), 2022
Pencil on paper, digital color
Trophy for the “Five Tigers” Awards - Kingdom of the Netherlands in Vietnam

Little Buffalo Boy Playing Flute, 2021
Approx. 177.2 x 118.1 x 47.2 inches | 450 x 300 x 120 cm
Metal frame, acrylic panels, LED lighting
District 3 and District 11, Ho Chi Minh City. Commissioned by Sacombank