The National Museum of Art, Osaka is pleased to present the first solo exhibition at a Japanese art museum by Danh Vo, one of the world's most prominent contemporary artists. Danh Vo was born in Bà Rịa, Vietnam in 1975 and is currently based in Berlin and Mexico City and active worldwide. At the age of four, Vo fled Vietnam with his family on a boat handmade by his father. They were rescued at sea by a Danish freighter and moved to Denmark after living for a time in a refugee camp. Vo studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany.
Vo's works deal with his own experiences and family history, incorporating readymade objects rich in socio-political historical implications, collected materials such as photographs and letters, and objects produced by important people in his life. In these works, themes such as identity, power, history, hegemony, and eroticism emerge directly or figuratively, inviting viewers to adopt varying perspectives on a single object or phenomenon.
For example, since last year Vo has been producing works related to key people in his life such his teacher, his father, his partner, and his nephew whom he regards as a muse. He intentionally blurs authorship, presenting an abstract painting on mirrored foil by Peter Bonde, who advised Vo to stop studying painting; calligraphic works by his father, also a collaborator in recent years; and photographs by his partner Heinz Peter Knes of Vo's muse, his nephew Gustav. The viewer finds that when Vo appropriates works by people central to his own life and reconfigures them, an image of Vo himself paradoxically emerges.
This long-awaited first solo exhibition at a Japanese art museum presents a comprehensive picture of Danh Vo, one of the world's most talked-about contemporary artists. In addition to the above-mentioned works, it features approximately 40 pieces including new and recent ones, among them a collaborative project with the family of the late US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, one of the major architects of the Vietnam War. Viewers can enjoy full immersion in the unique world Vo creates with his unparalleled capacity for selection and juxtaposition of objects. Another highlight is the installation of works in the galleries, their placement carefully thought out by Vo himself.

mpefm JAPAN art press release