Experiences and Social Issues, Canned in Phnom Penh Exhibit

Juice drink cans depicted in paintings by Vietnamese artist Bui Cong Khanh are not available at stalls ac­ross the region. And instead of juice, the cans contain concepts and social issues.

“Sleep Juice,” “City Juice,” “Folk­lore Juice” and “Cyclo Juice” are among eight colorful oil paintings, on display at jGallery in Phnom Penh until Aug 28.

Mr Khanh says the series points to a modern expectation that life’s experiences can be as cheaply and easily bought as cans of juice.

“People who have money think they can buy anything, but some things…you cannot just buy and drink,” Mr Khanh said during an interview.

For example, some people believe ex­pensive religious offerings secure well-­being, while others spend mo­ney on beer girls thinking they can buy love, Mr Khanh said.

“I take something you cannot buy and put it on the can,” Mr Khanh said.

Somewhat ironically, the “Juice” paintings are for sale, priced at $2,500.

On display in Ho Chi Minh City, “Juice Power” shows a ste­reo system of the sort through which the Vietnamese government in the past blasted propaganda, and which are still used to provide public information to some areas such as Hanoi, Mr Khanh said.

Working in Vietnam, Mr Khanh said he is not restricted in what he paints and that official licenses to display artworks are now easier to get.

jGallery owner Dana Langlois said that to her knowledge it is the second exhibition by a Vietnamese artist in the capital in 10 years.

“[I]t is a precursor to a new market dynamic which will place Cam­bodia in the regional context and allow artists to move through borders,” Ms Langlois said.

Mr Khanh collaborated with Cam­bodian artists Pich Sopheap and Leang Seckhon for an exhibition at JavaCafe in 2006.

At the opening Mr Khanh performed “Dollar Man,” sticking copies of $100 dollar bills over his face. Photographs of the act by Bui The Trung Nam are on display this month.

People come out of poverty to be­come obsessed with money until it blinds them, Mr Khanh commented. “They are now rich but do not care about anything else. Money covers their point of view,” Mr Khanh said.

 

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