Lazzari Art House is pleased to present an exhibition of works by French artist of Chinese origin Danhôo, marking the gallery’s inaugural presentation of the artist. How can we write about an artist’s work and what motivates the most intimate part of their life without fear of missing the mark or of lapsing into sentimentalism. In 'Harmonies of the present, a pictorial symphony' Danhôo meets the challenge of sharing with us his mental and emotional landscape, of basing his paintings on his life and the desire to revive buried memories, nameless secrets and unspoken fantasies. He invents a language that translates the untranslatable, a language of the body and soul, a hyper-responsive language in which the power of the colour and rhythm create a feeling of dizziness and disorientation – the giddy exhilaration of a waltz.
To immerse ourselves in a work by Danhôo is to agree to let go, to lose our bearings to such an extent that we question our emotional depths. Through his art we are taken into that sometimes unreachable place of anguish which is also the emotive site of our innermost subjectivity, our secret garden. By awakening us to a different world order, the order of colour, which is in fact a playful, captivating disorder, we are invited to celebrate the unique energy found only in the vulnerability of those who hunger and thirst, imbuing their every gesture with the grace of a granted prayer.
Born in Vietnam in 1966 to Chinese parents, Danhôo grew up in a country where he was perceived as a foreigner. In 1983, his family decided to take refuge in France to escape the ravages of war. His upbringing was deeply marked by exile and the need to adapt to a new culture.
In Paris, Danhôo and his brothers founded Atelier Phuong, an art shop supplying artists. It was there that he met a generation of painters linked to the lyrical abstraction, narrative figuration and free figuration movements. He had the opportunity to discover first-hand the work of artists such as Olivier Debré, Vladimir Veličković, Erró, Antonio Seguí, Gérard Fromanger, Jan Voss, Miquel Barceló and George Condo, among many other illustrious names of the twentieth century. These encounters, recorded in his visitors’ book since 1991, have had a profound influence on his style and artistic practice and it was working as an assistant to Robert Combas that he quickly developed a passion for painting.
Fusing dripping and calligraphy, he conceives his canvases as pictorial symphonies. The chromatic tones vibrate on the canvas to arouse emotion in the viewer. Danhôo’s abstract paintings become a compendium of his history, his culture and, above all, his burning passion for art.
Carla Lazzari