Kenny Nguyen

Kenny Nguyen creates what he calls “deconstructed paintings”, large, bold works that are comprised of hundreds of silk strips, which he cuts, paints, and meticulously applies onto canvas. The pieces may be hung in different iterations: sculpturally on the wall with undulations or flat, stretched like a painting on bars or behind glass. Born in Vietnam, Kenny moved to the states in 2010. After art school, he spent his early career in fashion. Working with silk has ties for the artist not only to dressmaking and patterns, but also long-standing associations to the material through his culture. The idea of cutting a fabric revered for its symbol of wealth, its beauty and delicacy in clothing, and its century-long ties to trade and status in Asia was a breakthrough for Nguyen. By taking something from tradition and reconstructing it, he was maintaining an association with his past while also making it is own. The process itself like the artist himself, a hybrid, blending cultures, and ideas, bringing to light the idea how identity is constantly changing over time, creating beauty and versatility.

His works have been exhibited at Sejong Museum of Art, Czong Institue for Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea, LaGrange Art Museum, GA, F...

BFA in Painting, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
BFA in Fashion Design, Vietnam National University of Art and Architecture, Vietnam.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Infinite Threads, Olin Gallery, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA, USA
2020 Reconstruction, The Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adam State University, Alamosa, CO, USA
2019 Interwoven, Solo Exhibition, Sozo Gallery, Charlotte, NC, USA
2018 ‘Kenny Nguyen: The Indescribable Fears’, M Gallery, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
2018 ‘Interbeing’, Solo Exhibition, Sozo Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2016 Space of Otherness, Solo Exhibition at Allenton Gallery, Durham Art Councils, Durham, NC