2023 EXHIBITIONS
9 March – 26 April 2023
Light’s Swirls and Whirls
The Arthur M. Glick JCC is welcoming me back for a new solo show in its beautiful gallery. I’ll will be showing my latest creations in three demanding media: urushi lacquer, acrylic, and copper. The pandemic calamity became an opportunity to explore new media, attempt bold experiments, and master precise hand gestures through the coordinated motion of shoulders, arms, and wrists. The exhibition displays compositions, large or small, that produce each their own universe where colors rhyme with forms in spinning and flowing rhythms.
Come and witness the transporting whirls, twirls, and swirls that gyrate all around those paintings and sculptures, each like a handloom that weaves its own peculiar mix and flux of elemental emotions.
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, 9 March 2023, 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
Address: Arthur M. Glick JCC, 6701 Hoover Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260
The plan of activities at the JCC also includes for me to spend an hour in their pre-kindergarten classroom with 4 and 5 year olds, leading them in making art; meet with their afterschool children, 9-13 year olds, in the gallery right before the reception; and meet with high school students one evening over pizza and talk about my artwork and my life as an artist.
2022 EXHIBITIONS
11 October – 6 November 2022
Layers of Light
This is the first exhibition that will display a selection of my best acrylic paintings of 2022 — the first time I have done any work with acrylic. I have learned a large variety of techniques and used different supports: canvas, masonite, and porcelain ceramic. Works are square, rectangular, round, and hexagonal, of small to medium size. See some representative pictures under the Painting tab.
This is a duo show: I have the pleasure to exhibit work in the company of Atossa Rahmanifar, an artist who creates her paintings by applying many layers of oil paints mixed with cold wax using various tools and techniques, including selectively scraping, scratching, and dissolving layers as they are built to reveal what lies beneath. We have found our work to be marvelously compatible, in a way reflected in the exhibition’s title, Layers of Light.
The exhibition will take place in the Saks Fifth Avenue Gallery, located in the Fashion Mall at Keystone Crossing. Enter the Saks Fifth Avenue and take the escalator to the third floor.
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, October 15, 2022, 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm.
Address: 8701 Keystone Crossing, Indianapolis, IN 46240
24 September – 4 October 2022
Urushi Forms and Hope — Lacquer Art in Southeast Asia
I have been invited to participate in the “Urushi Forms and Hope — Lacquer Art in Southeast Asia” exhibition at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts (Geidai) Museum. Its program includes lectures and workshops from international experts. More information about the symposium is provided at this link : https://asian-urushi.com/2022E.html.
I am unfortunately not able to attend the event this time, but I have sent my urushi work, “Give and Take Relationship” (2016), and it will be shown in that special exhibition. The venue is close to my heart for I spent several months studying at Geidai back in 2010, as a guest of the Urushi Department, and have the fondest memories of that rare experience.
2021 EXHIBITION
24 September – 27 October 2021
Nhat Tran: Pluriartistic Creations
This exhibition is sponsored by Indy Myopain Relief Center, a marvelous place that has a way of treating pains of all kinds effectively without medication. Its founder, Steve Maschmeyer, believes strongly in the healing power of arts. He and his wife Wena are wonderful friends of mine.
This exhibition will display a variety of works done in distinct media, both two- and three-dimensional: urushi lacquer of course, but also encaustic and even copper—my latest artistic turn!
The exhibition welcomes back one of my most favorite pieces, Inclination to Believe, which just returned after a three-year absence, three years during which it had the honor of hanging on a wall inside the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam!
Another piece on display will be the great Wapiti Aura, one of my most ambitious and beloved creations, famous for its tantalizing shadows on the wall.
Opening wine & hors d’oeuvre reception:
Friday, September 24, 2021,
from 5 to 9 PM
Location:
Nhat Tran Studio
909 E. Michigan
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Large parking lot just outside
To visit at other times from September 25 to October 27, send the artist an email to make sure the studio is open.
2020 EXHIBITION
16 July – 31 October 2020
Unveiling
Inaugural show of IndyVisible Artists: a group of three women, Sandy Roob, Claudia Labin, and Nhat Tran.
Opening Reception: Meet the artists on
Thursday, July 16, 2020, from 5 to 8 PM
Location: Hotel Broad Ripple
6520 E. Westfield Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Parking available at the hotel and on street adjacent to the Monon Trail
Don a face mask and come to this show, safely observing appropriate social-distancing rules!
2019 EXHIBITIONS
16 August – 15 September 2019
The Hubei Museum of Art invited me to participate in the 2019 Hubei International Triennial of Lacquer Art, titled this year World of Lacquer: Vessel & Form. The Triennial started in 2010, and I have had the honor of participating in all four of them. The curators selected my recent antler-based sculpture, Dancing in the Moonlight.
Dancing with a partner is learning how to enmesh ensouled bodies to become one configuration, one form whose moves transform a single space. Look at me: I am two, and yet one. Look at our shadow: it, too, is one. Move the moon: our shadow will move, and so do we, gracefully, in perfect harmony. Will you come to the dance tonight ?
17 x 13 x 15 in.
Natural urushi lacquer on whitetail deer antlers.
27 December 2018 – 17 February 2019
The Fuzhou Culture & Tourism Investment Group invited me to participate in Lacquering and Practice, the 2018 Fuzhou International Lacquer Art Biennial. They selected my new sculpture, Toho the Silent Hunter.
A noble animal I come from. My names are many. I prefer Toho, and so should you call me. My power has three sources: my fangs, my claws, and my colors. Especially yellow, the color long associated with me. Every color wields enormous power, each utterly distinct. What do you think yellow can do that no other color can?
27 x 13 x 13 in.
Natural urushi lacquer on mountain lion (cougar) skull.
Hand-wrought iron, signature-stamped tripod.
2018 EXHIBITIONS
10 August–15 September 2018: Edington Gallery, Summer Group Exhibition
Telene Edington has organized a group exhibition featuring works by Casey Cronin, Bob Cross, Debra Delbecq, Jane Everhart, Nicholas Hill, Michal Lile, DeAnne Roth, Martha Sando, and myself. I have three artworks showing there: Glimmers of Hope (mixed media), Will You Dance with Me? (urushi lacquer shown at right), and Shadows of Shadows (urushi lacquer).
Address: Edington Gallery, 1495 North Harding Street, Indianapolis, IN 462021
Artist reception: August 10, 6 – 8:30 pm
Opening days: August 11, noon to 5 PM. Gallery viewing until mid-September
12–15 July 2018: Participation as an exhibitor at Art Santa Fe 2018
Thrilling news! I will be exhibiting artworks in an optimally located booth at the well-known Art Santa Fe annual event. The art show will take place in the Santa Fe Convention Center. Many of those works are part of my new project “Into the Bones,” funded by the DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award recently received from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
Address: Santa Fe Convention Center, 201 West Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Opening Night Party (collectors): July 12, 5 – 9 pm
Show days: July 13 & 14, 12 noon – 7 pm; July 15, 11 am – 5 pm
Come and visit my booth, # 201 !
Links: http://www.artsantafe.com/
See https://www.flickr.com/photos/artexpo/sets/72157667725598517/ for pictures.
2017 EXHIBITIONS
1 September to 22 October 2017: PROJECT 19: The Prolonged Gaze
In 2014, Zephyr Gallery launched an ongoing Project series with curated proposal-based exhibitions as well as collabrations with cultural institutions. Project 19: The Prolonged Gaze is the nineteenth exhibition in this series, featuring three of my artworks, along with works by Vian Sora and Tiffany Calvert. My three artworks are Inclination to Believe, The Cycle of Ups and Downs, and Exhaling the Fragrance.
See the announcement at http://zephyrgallery.org.
September 1 – October 22, 2017 | Zephyr Gallery
610 E Market Street, Louisville, KY 40202
Artist Talk: Thursday October 19, 2017 | 6:00 p.m.
Curator: Miranda Lash, Speed Art Museum’s curator of contemporary art, University of Louisville
8 July to 1 October 2017: Biennial 29
It is a great privilege to join this exhibition, because it was highly competitive! Every two years, the South Bend Museum of Art organizes this event, now in its 29th edition! This all media biennial presents a diverse look into contemporary artwork made by artists living in the Midwest. Open to artists residing in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, it provides “an up-to-date dialogue of art happening in our own backyard.” From 247 submitting artists, twelve were selected by juror Miranda Lash, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky. I am this year the only selected artist from Indiana.
See the announcement at http://www.southbendart.org/see/biennial-29.
July 8 – October 1, 2017 | Warner Gallery
Reception: Friday, September 1, 2017 | 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Sponsored by The Art League
Curator: Mark Rospenda
21–24 April 2017: Participation as an exhibitor at ArtExpo New York 2017
Exciting experience! I exhibited artworks for the first time in my own booth at the well-known ArtExpo New York annual event. The art show took place at a pier on the west side of Manhattan, not far from Times Square.
Address: Pier 94, 711 12th Avenue (55th Street & the West Side Highway), New York,
NY 10019-5399
First Look (trade attendees only): April 21, 12 noon – 4 pm
Opening Night preview party (collectors): April 21, 4 – 8 pm
Show days: April 22 & 23, 11 am – 7 pm; April 24, 10 am – 3 pm
Come and visit my booth, # S 704 !
Links: http://artexponewyork.com/exhibitor-list/ (exhibitors listed by first name)
See https://www.flickr.com/photos/artexpo/sets/72157678424592803/ for pictures.
December 2016: Participation in the exhibition Red Dot Miami 2016, Miami, FL, 30 November–4 December. This was the positive result of a competition organized by the World Wide Art & Artavita Pavilion. See the announcement below (they got the dates remarkably wrong in the top left corner!).
The jury selected my mounted sculpture Inscribing for the Spectrum Miami Art Fair (concurrent with Art Basel in Miami Beach, 1 to 4 December 2016).
2016 EXHIBITIONS
20 September to 19 October 2016: Crescendo
I was delighted to have had the opportunity to show my latest creations at the JCC Indianapolis! This solo exhibition showcased a variety of new works, including the painted burl trees!
At the Arthur M. Glick JCC
6701 Hoover Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260
Opening reception: Thursday, September 22, 2016
September 2016: Participation in the exhibition World of Lacquer: Cycle of Time, the 2016 Hubei International Triennial of Lacquer Art (China).
I showed one painted sculpture in that exhibition: Exhaling the Fragrance, 2014, 24" x 30" x 4.3", urushi lacquer on wood (slice of tree trunk) mounted on light-grey-painted wooden board.
August 2016: Participation in the exhibition Asian Lacquer Art Exhibition
in Hanoi (Vietnam), organized by Asian Lacquer Craft Exchange Research Project (Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan).
I showed one urushi sculpture in that exhibition: Let Me Dream,
2014, 10" x 5.5" x 5.5", urushi lacquer on wood.
July 2016: Participation in the exhibition The Era of Lacquer Linguistics, the 2016 International Lacquer Art Biennial in Fuzhou (China).
I presented two recent artworks in that exhibition:
(1) Into the Fifth Dimension, 2016, 72" x 24", diptych, urushi lacquer on wooden board.
(2) The Artist and Her Muse, 2016, 24" x 30" x 4.3", two-piece tridimensional assemblage, urushi on burl tree.
23–26 June 2016: Several of my newest miniature lacquer paintings were exhibited at the 2016 Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY, June 23–26.
Exhibited by Galeria StandARTe, Madrid, Spain.
FRIDAY 29 April 2016:
STUDIO OPENING 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Allegro
Wine and hors d’oeuvre Come and enjoy an artistic evening in my studio!
“Allegro” is a joyous phrase to capture the spirit of this show. I will be sending a few pieces soon to several international exhibitions (see above), and would like to come and see them before they are packed. You'll also get to see the new artwork I have done following my recent stay in Kyoto, and other works in progress, including the painted burl trees.
March–October 2016
Here is an event that has filled me with the deepest emotion. In March 2016, the Indiana State Museum inaugurated a large exhibition celebrating “200 Years of Indiana Art: A Cultural Legacy.”
This exhibition is part of many events across Indiana commemorating its 200th anniversary. I am truly humbled by the honor of having had my artwork Fragile Words (2000), acquired by the Indiana State Museum for its permanent collection, selected for that historical exhibition (March–October 2016).
2015 EXHIBITION
3 July – 25 July 2015: Running Hot and Cold: Contemporary Techniques of Painting with Wax
The use of heated or melted wax, known as encaustic, is one of the oldest forms of painting with examples from Greek and Etruscan art that date back more than 2,000 years! The invention of electric heating coils and heat guns in the mid-20th century have helped spur the resurgence of interest in this most ancient form of painting. This group exhibition featured six of my encaustic artworks.
Opening reception: Friday, 3 July 2015, 6 to 8 pm
The Garfield Park Arts Center
2432 Conservatory Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46203
2014 EXHIBITIONS
FRIDAY 7 November 2014: STUDIO OPENING
Topsy Turvy
5:30 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.
Wine and hors d’oeuvre
Come and enjoy an artistic evening in my studio! “Topsy-Turvy” is a good phrase to capture my latest urushi painting project. All the pieces are anchored at various gravity-defying angles on sturdy wooden or metal bases. Some are full of nooks and crannies, others will introduce you to the concept of a tree slice. This new collection is yet another turn in my continued evolution. Other artworks on the wall use urushi to explore the interval between the second and the third dimension...
June 2014: The Contemporary Landscape Show
I was so happy to participate in this group exhibition of many Indiana artists: it was beautifully hung, with an abundance of joyful and colorful works!
Curated by Shannon Linker
The Arts Council of Indianapolis, 924 N. Pennsylvania St, Indianapolis, IN 46204
30 May – 28 June 2014: Finale. The Last Show
David Kadlec invited me to participate in the last show he curated for his gallery in Columbus, which he was sadly forced to close because it was not profitable. It was a beautiful exhibition, showing the works of his favorite Indiana artists.
Curated by David Kadlec
Jacksson Contemporary Art, 1030 Jackson St., Columbus, IN 47201
Gallery hours: Wednesday-Friday 12-6, Saturday 10-1; or by appointment
dkadlec@casaverdellc.com; facebook.com/jackssoncontemporaryart
2013 EXHIBITIONS
15 November 2013 – 14 February 2014: The Art of Nhat Tran
Solo exhibition of a variety of works, with a series of urushi paintings and prints of digitized collages of urushi paintings mixed with photographed land- and skyscapes.
Curated by the Meridian Street Foundation, Tarkington Tower, 4000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46268
September– November 2013: World of Great Lacquer: Origin and Flows
I had the honor to be invited to participate for the second time in one of the most important exhibitions of lacquer art in China, which takes place every three years in Wuhan, Hubei.
2013 Hubei International Triennial of Lacquer Art, Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
7 June – 20 July 2013: Nhat Tran. See the Unseen. Paintings and Sculptures
Solo exhibition of a variety of works, with a series of urushi paintings and prints of digitized collages of urushi paintings mixed with photographed land- and skyscapes.
Curated by David Kadlec, Jacksson Contemporary Art, 1030 Jackson St., Columbus, IN 47201
Gallery hours: Wednesday-Friday 12-6, Saturday 10-1; or by appointment
dkadlec@casaverdellc.com; facebook.com/jackssoncontemporaryart
27 January – 24 March 2013: Nhat Tran. Urushi Lights
Solo exhibition of a variety of works, with a series of new urushi paintings.
Curated by Shaun Digwerth, Richmond Art Museum, 350 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond, IN
2012 EXHIBITIONS
9 November – 8 December 2012: Nhat Tran. Urushi Lights
Solo exhibition of a variety of works, with several brand-new urushi paintings! It will be a surprise!
Curated by Jerry Points, Eye on Art Gallery, 111 West Main Street, Suite 150, Carmel, IN
14 September – 25 November 2012
Triple exhibition in Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, Kitakata
Resonant Uruwashi: New Vibrance in International Women’s Urushi Art
Curated by Sakurako Matshushima and Fumie Sasai. Click here for exhibition website.
• Yamawaki Gallery, Tokyo: 14 Sept.–1 Oct. 2012
• Kyoto Gallery of Kyoto City University of Arts: 6–21 Oct. 2012
• Kitakata City Museum of Art, Fukushima Prefecture: 27 Oct.–25 Nov. 2012
20 January – 24 February 2012: Nhat Tran: Orchestral Urushi Collage
Solo exhibition during the Super Bowl in Indianapolis! I am showing new urushi work along with a set of high-quality prints of sophisticated digitized collages of urushi paintings mixed with photographed land- and skyscapes.
Curated by Shannon Linker
Gallery 924, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, IN
See the invitation HERE to the reception on 3 February! Link to nice article in the Indianapolis Star
2011 EXHIBITIONS
1 October – 23 November 2011 Exhibition in Japan
This special exhibition was organized in support of the people who live in the lacquer area of Tohoku (Northeast Japan) and who have been deeply affected by the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. I created a painting specially for it, The Moon Drowned Yesterday, which was my message of trust to the people of Tohoku, trust in their resilience and determination to rebuild and renew their lives.
AIZU FUKUSHIMA URUSHI ART FESTIVAL 2011 会津 漆の芸術祭
Female Urushi Artists' Solidarity with the People of TOHOKU
Curated by Sakurako Matshushima and Fumie Sasai.
Aizu Fukushima Urushi Art Festival, Exhibition Hall of Aizuwakamatsu City, Japan
2 July – 13 November 2011: The Culture of Lacquer
I was invited to present one artwork at this international exhibition in Tainan, Taiwan (a triennial event). I chose to show my kanshitsu piece Experiment in Verification and Falsification. This trip was absolutely marvelous!!! I also had the opportunity to deliver a PowerPoint lecture in the Department of Fine Arts of Taichung University of Education.
The Culture of Lacquer
Tainan International Treechi Art Exhibition, Chon Yei Arts Center, Tainan, Taiwan. Organized by the Lacquer Arts Association of Taiwan, Tainan City, Taiwan.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE OPENING OF THAT EXHIBITION.
Click also here for more pictures.
Born from the two faces of a same plaster mold that has been removed, Experiment in Verification and Falsification is a double urushi kanshitsu work that evokes the obverse and reverse of any process of inquiry. In this process, verification of what can be trusted as real is at the same time a falsification of what fails the experimental test. Truth is at once simple and complex, while falsity is only an imitation of the truth: it looks like it, sometimes very much so, and only a sustained, honest inquiry can tell the difference. This artwork evokes the difference while not denying the similarity.
4 June to 24 July 2011: Asian Arts & Artists Exhibition
Four of my paintings were exhibited at the Asian Arts & Artists Exhibition at the Garfield Park Art Center in Indianapolis. Only one of them was a Vietnamese lacquer painting (titled Fall Face, 2000). The other three were mixed media: All the Wonders of You (oil + pastel, 2001), Caresse-moi tendrement partout (oil + wax, 2001), and Against the Flow (oil + wax, 2001).
15 April to 5 June 2011: (shout!)
Five of my recent works are part of (shout!), the exhibition organized by the Arts Council of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Arts Center that serves as a retrospective of the works produced by the recipients of the 2009–2010 Creative Renewal Arts Fellowships. The opening reception took place at 6:00 p.m. on April 15.
28 February – 8 April 2011: Unveiled Layers: Nhat Tran
This exhibition showed 34 of my works between 2000 and 2011. It was a retrospective that also contained a few kanshitsu pieces I had recently finished—it's one of the techniques I have learned in Japan. My great friend Tom Miller helped me hang it, and did a marvelous job.
Curated by Michael Atwell, Eric Dean Gallery, Fine Arts Center, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN 47933
See Rita Kohn’s review in Nuvo here.
4 March – 2 April 2011: Facing East: Contemporary Asian Art
Two of my 2010 paintings were shown in this group show the first week of which coincided with Asian Art Week in New York.
Curated by Sundaram Tagore, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, NY
Upload the press release as a PDF.
2010 EXHIBITIONS
28 September – 21 October 2010: 2010 China Hubei International Lacquer Triennial Exhibition
Three of my 2006 artworks (Effectual Interpretant, Shreds of Kisses, and The Sleeve of Night and Morn) were exhibited at the Hubei Museum of Art, which was organizing the first edition of an international lacquer triennial exhibition. Its 2010 theme was “World of Lacquer: Material, Process, Spirit.” At the Museum’s invitation, I attended the exhibition’s inauguration.
Presided by Mr. Fu Zhongang, Director of the Hubei Museum of Art, and curated by Pi Daojian, Chang Tsong-Zung, and Chen Qinqun. Hubei Museum of Art, Wuhan, Hubei, China
28 May – 8 June 2010: Walking Away from the Age of Hemudu
At the end of May, while studying at Geidai in Tokyo, I accompanied Professors Mitamura and Ogura and their colleagues for a brief trip to China. We attended “Walking from the Age of Hemudu,” the Third International Exhibition of Chi Art and Academy Conference co-sponsored by the Fujian Art Museum and the Fujian Art and Craft Society, which took place from May 28 to June 8, 2010, at the Fujian Art Museum in the city of Fuzhou. One of my 2010 works, Dance Away, Emotion, was exhibited there as well thanks to the encouragement of my Japanese professors.
2009 EXHIBITIONS
June 20 to October 18, 2009: Making it in the Midwest: Artists Who Chose to Stay
Curator Perry presented a double exhibition that, in her words, explored the efforts of past artists (who belonged to the “Society of Midwest Artists”) and contemporary Hoosier artists to establish reputations and careers of national and international standing in spite of many challenges. Three works of mine were included: A Bouquet for You, on loan from the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery; Inclination to Believe, my first lacquered sculpture; and Attached, Detached, my latest creation (June 2009).
Curated by Rachel Perry, Indiana State Museum, 650 W. Washington, Indianapolis, IN 46204
January 23 to March 21, 2009: Art for a New Century: Works Desired for the Permanent Collection
The Art Museum of Greater Lafayette selected Nhat as one of the regional artists “whose work is expected to become more important through the coming years.”
A couple of generous art-lovers purchased one of her artworks on display and donated it to the museum’s permanent collection.
Curated by Michael Atwell
Art Museum of Greater Lafayette
102 South Tenth St • Lafayette, IN 47905
