A SLICE OF LIFE

Oct. 19, 2009 to Jun. 28, 2010

Gallery 4

During the past decade, the number of active Vietnamese women artists has increased significantly, with afew beginning to forge international reputations. Their role in the contemporary art world is, however,still considered by many to be of somewhat less importance than that of their male counterpatrs. It will take time and perseverance to change this attitude,not only to art made by women, but also their generally inequitable position insiciety.

An artist such as Mai Anh, 41, to some extent, exemplifies the position of Vietnamese women artists and their struggle to secure appropriate recognition of their contributions to the art world. While many male artists have a tendency to venerate women and objectify their percieved beauty, Anh's themes more often than not address a much more realistic condition in many women's lives, one in which they are often alone with their children, working in the fields, waiting for their partners to come home. These solitary figures are constrained by a traditional value system in which the woman's place is seen to be at home with her children, giving solace to the family, providing emotional sustenance when needed.

Although very aware of the condition of women in society,Mai Anh is not entirely receptive to a feminist position, for she does not with to politicize her role as a woman and an artist in contemporary Vietnam, nor does she overtly seek sympathy for the protagonists within her work. Her work is her objective statement and the viewer must draw from it that which they may. Anh, who is a reseved but determined woman, expresses opinions that would offtend many Western feminists of even the most liberal kind.