A joint exhibition by rapper Wowy and artist Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn began last month with an auction that yielded hundreds of million of dong that will go towards humanitarian causes.
At the end of April, the exhibition "Tận Cùng Giấc Mơ Cùng Tận" (A Dream of the End at the End of a Dream) officially opened its doors for visitors at Saigon’s own Galerie Quỳnh. It’s the second time that the duo has collaborated; the first time was "Quiet Shiny Words/Cultural Doppelgangbangers" back in 2008.
In "A Dream of the End," they envision a futuristic world and create artworks that seek to answer the question: “What happens if one becomes the last person on Earth?” Text messages, hieroglyphs and geometrical patterns are some elements that exist in this alternative post-apocalyptic universe created by Wowy and Tuấn.
Among the artworks, four have sparked many public conversations, as they were created using Wowy’s own blood. VnExpress reports that the rapper, with the help of a physician, crafted a special ink out of 250ml of his blood mixed with anticoagulants. The process was assisted by artist Nguyễn Văn Đủ, who specializes in blood-derived art pieces.
During the auction, ‘Lưu Trữ Bản Sắc,’ a blood portrait, was sold for VND150 million to an unnamed collector. ‘Nguyện Thế Giới Bình An,’ a gold-plated calligraphy work, went to pop singer Hoàng Thùy Linh. According to Galerie Quỳnh, the auction earned a sum of VND316 million, the entirety of which would be contributed to two humanitarian causes.
Part of the money will be given to the Hematology Department of the HCMC Children’s Hospital to support the department’s patients in need. The other recipient is the Tia Nắng Center, a post-production vocational studio established to teach video editing skills to youths with hearing and other communicative disabilities.
Tận Cùng Giấc Mơ Cùng Tận is available for viewing at Galerie Quỳnh from April 24 to June 26.
[Top image via Billboard]
