And finally the last leg of the trip: Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. I went there as part of
Viet Nam the World Tour. Viet Nam is an amazing place, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go there and meet so many great people. It was very inspiring. Also, I've never seen so many scooters in my life. I painted this mural by the front of
Sán Art independent artist space and the offices of the
Propeller Group in the Binh Thanh district. It's based on a photo I took of my girlfriend's grandmother, Kosoom. I think her expression here can convey both warmth and strength. I used colors that matched the surrounding environment, so she's a little bit camouflaged from far away. I took the extra time to try and get this piece to look just how I wanted, which was all the more difficult thanks to the heat, humidity, mosquitos, and constant rain. The light gray letters in the background say "KHCATBTONG" which is an abbreviation for something like "concrete cutting". These imitate stamps of similar appearance that can be seen all over the city. Everywhere. The amount of these stamps that are up is insane, so there must be a fairly high demand for that service.
I also painted at a hip hop event there, where I did a little something using local paint (quality European paint isn't really available there) called "Red Fox". This stuff is very difficult to use, so I have sympathy for the local writers. I had fun messing around with it though. The piece in the middle photo above is a painting of me by a Vietnamese writer named Hoang, who came down from Hanoi (Northern Viet Nam) to paint. I felt very honored! He did a great job, especially considering the rain, small size and use of local paint. I really look forward to going back to Viet Nam again someday. Many, many thanks to Matt, Tuan & Phunam of
the Propeller Group for the good times and making everything possible,
Sán Art, Kooz, Tofu, and the customs lady at the airport who decided to let me go.
And finally the last leg of the trip: Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. I went there as part of Viet Nam the World Tour. Viet Nam is an amazing place, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go there and meet so many great people. It was very inspiring. Also, I've never seen so many scooters in my life. I painted this mural by the front of Sán Art independent artist space and the offices of the Propeller Group in the Binh Thanh district. It's based on a photo I took of my girlfriend's grandmother, Kosoom. I think her expression here can convey both warmth and strength. I used colors that matched the surrounding environment, so she's a little bit camouflaged from far away. I took the extra time to try and get this piece to look just how I wanted, which was all the more difficult thanks to the heat, humidity, mosquitos, and constant rain. The light gray letters in the background say "KHCATBTONG" which is an abbreviation for something like "concrete cutting". These imitate stamps of similar appearance that can be seen all over the city. Everywhere. The amount of these stamps that are up is insane, so there must be a fairly high demand for that service. 
I also painted at a hip hop event there, where I did a little something using local paint (quality European paint isn't really available there) called "Red Fox". This stuff is very difficult to use, so I have sympathy for the local writers. I had fun messing around with it though. The piece in the middle photo above is a painting of me by a Vietnamese writer named Hoang, who came down from Hanoi (Northern Viet Nam) to paint. I felt very honored! He did a great job, especially considering the rain, small size and use of local paint. I really look forward to going back to Viet Nam again someday. Many, many thanks to Matt, Tuan & Phunam of the Propeller Group for the good times and making everything possible, Sán Art, Kooz, Tofu, and the customs lady at the airport who decided to let me go.
5 comments:
Incredible!! I love your work.
times ago I saw a beautifull work in Milan.
Now I nkow it's Yours.
Great!
Many thanks for the good words..
Thanks for posting this series of your tour. I've really enjoyed the recollections of your experiences and the progressive shots of your works in progress. It's so good to see your exceptional work up all over the world.
I came to San Art today and Nhung said, "It was his girlfriend's grandma..." and I thought, "Really weird, she can draw graffiti..."
I laughed my head off when I realized that she'd meant it was your girlfriend's grandma that you portrayed, while I'd understood that it was your girlfriend's grandma that portrayed you.
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