Tran Luong belongs to the second generation of Doi Moi art in Vietnam. He is a pioneer and the first artist of his generation to work internationally. Luong has become an organizer of workshops and a reputable curator of installation, performance and video art in Vietnam, as well as a fluent intermediary, working to reduce the barriers to more innovative work in social and cultural policy. As an advocate for openness, he believes in reforming psychology in order that all Vietnamese fully appreciate the effort and courage of the nation’s contemporary artists in their task of integrating within the global art world.  

 Luong’s series of oil on rice paper paintings, entitled “Live under Water” brought him his first success. He combined abstract and minimalist elements with serial repetition on a traditional surface, using a variety of earth tones to paradoxically, evoke water-life. The little living creatures in the water represented the beginning of life and personal freedom, which has been always vulnerable in nature and society. “Flow” is one of the first art videos made in Vietnam. The visual form, the use of sound, and the structure along with the time dimension were new to Vietnamese audiences in the 90s. Its philosophy is very clear, embodied by the title. “All flows” and “water wearing down stone” are states found in nature. Luong makes reference here to Asian wisdom of softness ultimately triumphing over toughness. “My life now, in this city, on this river, in this rain… is like this, nothing new except me and my thoughts. ‘Flow’ calls for cleansing, renewing, for the growing of individuals and also of the community. This is a very much personal, but also very much shared desire.”
 (Nguyen Quan)