Lys Bui is a Saigon-born illustrator who is currently living in New York.
Saigon Boulevard is a collection of Bui's seven artworks depicting nine iconic buildings in Saigon that have become central to the collective memory of the city's residents. The book was printed by local studio Kho Muc using the riso technique, which produces different colors through layered printing.
Lys Bui has been documenting Saigon's architectural gems through colorful drawings ever since her project From Saigon, which she started after moving to New York.
"When I came to New York City, my friends were telling me that I should draw the Manhattan cityscape because the city was going through a similar phase [as Saigon] of old architecture being torn down. As pretty as those buildings were, I didn't feel any connection to the city and its history like I did with Saigon, so I decided to start a side project on the disappearing Saigon architecture instead," Ly told Ginkgo Journal.
From just sketches in a notebook, Bui went on to experiment with silkscreen printing. Some of these silkscreened artworks were displayed in 2017's Saigon Blueprint exhibition. Saigon Boulevard presents a similar ethos of the artist's previous works about Saigon, on a different medium.
Accompanying the book launch is an exhibition of Lys Bui's works, which will be held at Coffee House SIGNATURE from May 31 to June 30. You can order a copy of her book here and check out more details about the exhibition here.
Have a sneak peek at the poster book below:
[Photo via Kho Muc Studio Facebook's account]
