"CURRENT"

An Installation Exhibition by Zac Buehner.

Paper cutting. Metal shaping. Painting.

Opening Hours: May 4 - May 27, 2025 - Free Entry.
+10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday to Thursday.
+10:00 AM - 8:00 PM, Friday to Sunday.
Join us for the official opening at 5:00 PM on May 4, 2025.
Location: Vin Gallery, 35/8 Nguyen Van Dau, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City

1. Artist Statement.

My current work is a reflection on change, from personal growth I’ve experienced, to global shifts we face together. In order to examine the complexities of change I’ve had to accept it as fundamental to our world; to do so I’ve incorporated this into the foundation of my art-making, allowing constant change within my process to be the point.

I’ve learned to follow inspiration intuitively as it flows. The more open I am to where my ideas move, the more varied my art has become. A painting inspires a sculpture and a sculpture inspires a papercut, and so on. What interests me the most is how seemingly disparate objects can be so intrinsically related to each other. In fact each new piece becomes a literal extension of the last one, leaving traces of cause or effect, or becoming a sign that points to the direction where transformation may lead.

As a result of making art in this fluid way, I’ve noticed spiritual and philosophical changes in my thinking that are now material for this evolving body of work. And by working on multiple pieces at once the common threads become more evident. Sometimes the subject emerges literally, contrasting images from my past against images of my life as it is now. Other times it’s arisen symbolically via reference to moving water, cycles, and time. For a broader view I look at the new media sphere that’s propelled us into an increasingly globalized culture. And I play with cutting-edge technologies which, for the first time in our history, are forcing us to adapt to changes now happening at an exponential pace.

This entire body of work naturally ties together as a dynamic experience-based installation, yet each artwork is a discreet piece that can stand alone. The art is open ended, poses questions instead of answers, and offers room for interpretation. It’s an invitation for viewers to reflect on change from their perspective, yet with inspiration from my own.

2. Artist Portfolio.

- Multidisciplinary artist (visual art, graffiti, music, metal fabrication) active since the late 1990s.
- Raised in NYC, began drawing obsessively as a child, transitioned to graffiti, and emerged in the New York graffiti scene by 1998.
- Earned a BA in Fine Art from Hampshire College (2004), focusing on site-specific installations that blurred traditional exhibition boundaries.
- Passionate about blacksmithing (later a primary career) and music (co-founded Third Person, composed film scores for Word.Life – Tribeca Film Festival 2006).
- Worked as a studio assistant for Tom Friedman (2.5 years), then lived and created in an abandoned Massachusetts factory (8 years), merging art with his struggle with bipolar disorder.
- First major group exhibition at Leila Heller Gallery NYC (2013), with works sold pre-opening; published short story "The Ascent" in Studio International.
- Moved to South Korea (2015), held a solo show "Hide" in Daegu; later relocated to Vietnam.
- Solo debut "enTropical" at Room Saigon (2019), collaborated with Ki Saigon, won London International Award (2021) for "Peace Project".