Tam Van Tran’s newest exhibition “Exodus” at Susanne Vielmetter represents a meditation on duality wherein forces in nature collide with our own human frailties. These paintings accelerate our sensibilities as colors push forward and break apart, yet it is the tension between materials that is most compelling. The small, fragile ceramic vessels that reference military and funerary formations, “the family units of historical figures in Vietnam,” stand in sharp contrast to the energy and movement of the large-scale paintings. The past conflates with the present and intimates the future much like the Buddhist deity Kala, who embodies the elements of time and death within a feminine form, suggesting rebirth. 

Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
6006 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
Exodus Runs through May 23, 2015