Ode to Slowness: Tuan Vu

The birds sing the same songs they sang last spring. Walk along the path of this garden while the sunlight swirls its way down through the twisted branches of the trees. In these moments, time becomes a thick field that you can swim in and feel running across your skin.  Tuan Vu’s paintings capture the timelessness of serenity, creating a space where sensitivity, memory, and attention can breathe. The paintings sing an Ode to Slowness, praising unhurriedness as an act of resistance and as a quiet display of feminine strength.

Beneath the beauty of these pieces lies the presence of a people held in the control of colonial rule. Vietnam has long been held under the oppression of imperial rule from Western powers and others; despite this, the Vietnamese people cling to the moments of appreciation for life, nature, and stillness.

Tuan draws inspiration from the work of Les Nabis with the flattened painting style and loose strokes. A French post-impressionist movement at the turn of the century was born out of French colonialism. At the time of this movement, the French Colonial empire controlled Vietnam as part of French Indochina, extracting natural resources and imposing modernity and French customs on the people. Part of this imposition was arts and painting. Tuan Vu uses this French style of painting to demonstrate the beauty of Vietnamese culture as its own form of quiet resistance.

Tuan Vu’s subjects exist amongst the design of foreign rule; architecture and design are imposed onto them, yet as individuals, they hold onto their stillness. Despite this, these women remain calm and leisurely, surrounded by the flora and fauna of their country. In the painting L’insouciance, two women lounge, surrounded by ancient lounging idols. The piece speaks to a strength of femininity throughout time. Women hold the ability to remain calm and thoughtful, resisting control through beauty and maintaining traditions even while the world thrashes violently around them. 

Make Room is proud to present Ode to Slowness by Montreal-based artist Tuan Vu, exploring his cultural connection to Vietnam and to the influence of women in his life. He paints leisurely scenes that exemplify the act of defiance that is to remain true to yourself in repose and stillness. A resistance to being defined by others.

The birds sing the same songs they sang last spring. Walk along the path of this garden while the sunlight swirls its way down through the twisted branches of the trees. In these moments, time becomes a thick field that you can swim in and feel running across your skin.  Tuan Vu’s paintings capture the timelessness of serenity, creating a space where sensitivity, memory, and attention can breathe. The paintings sing an Ode to Slowness, praising unhurriedness as an act of resistance and as a quiet display of feminine strength.

Beneath the beauty of these pieces lies the presence of a people held in the control of colonial rule. Vietnam has long been held under the oppression of imperial rule from Western powers and others; despite this, the Vietnamese people cling to the moments of appreciation for life, nature, and stillness.

Tuan draws inspiration from the work of Les Nabis with the flattened painting style and loose strokes. A French post-impressionist movement at the turn of the century was born out of French colonialism. At the time of this movement, the French Colonial empire controlled Vietnam as part of French Indochina, extracting natural resources and imposing modernity and French customs on the people. Part of this imposition was arts and painting. Tuan Vu uses this French style of painting to demonstrate the beauty of Vietnamese culture as its own form of quiet resistance.

Tuan Vu’s subjects exist amongst the design of foreign rule; architecture and design are imposed onto them, yet as individuals, they hold onto their stillness. Despite this, these women remain calm and leisurely, surrounded by the flora and fauna of their country. In the painting L’insouciance, two women lounge, surrounded by ancient lounging idols. The piece speaks to a strength of femininity throughout time. Women hold the ability to remain calm and thoughtful, resisting control through beauty and maintaining traditions even while the world thrashes violently around them. 

Make Room is proud to present Ode to Slowness by Montreal-based artist Tuan Vu, exploring his cultural connection to Vietnam and to the influence of women in his life. He paints leisurely scenes that exemplify the act of defiance that is to remain true to yourself in repose and stillness. A resistance to being defined by others.