Studios
Bui Huu Hung has spent most of his life living in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he was born in 1957, during a turbulent period for the capital and country. Each studio he worked in supported his creations in different manners. As lacquer is a demanding medium in terms of space, materials, and process, his studios were conceived to support every stage of production, from preparation to completion.
From left: Nguyen Van Hiep, Mr. Hoa, Bui Tuan Thanh, Bui Huu Hung, Mr. Minh. © Image courtesy of the artist
Vagabonding between studios in Northern Vietnam
Bui Huu Hung’s engagement with lacquer began through training in multiple studios around Hanoi. Techniques and approaches were transmitted by master craftsmen whose knowledge had been passed down through generations in family workshops. During this formative period, he studied with Bui Tuan Thanh, a painter in Hanoi who became one of his most influential mentors. He maintained, alongside, his own working space in Khâm Thiên, the neighbourhood where he grew up. There, he worked in close proximity to peers he had met through other studios.
Nhà Sàn Studio
In the late 1980s, Bui Huu Hung established a lacquer studio in the West Lake area of Hanoi. Built on wooden stilts, the structure was known as nhà sàn, meaning stilt house. The studio became a site of both production and transmission, where he worked with assistants and taught lacquer techniques to younger artists and visiting international students.
In the 1990s, he co-founded Nhà Sàn Studio with artists Le Hong Thai, Truong Tan, and Do Minh Tam. The group formed Hanoi’s first avant-garde art collective, working across disciplines and addressing experimental subject matter at a time when Vietnam’s cultural and political climate was undergoing significant transformation. During this period, Bui Huu Hung also established his family life, alongside the rhythms of studio creations.
Le Hong Thai (on the right) making a lacquer painting with an assistant at Bui Huu Hung’s studio in the mid-1990s. © Salon Natasha Archive
The group of images includes Bui Huu Hung’s paintings and group photos with the Lacquer workshop (taken c. 1994), as well as Dan Thu Huong’s paintings and photos of the artist (taken c. 1988). © Salon Natasha Archive.
Artists and guests at the opening of the group exhibition “Icon of Our Time” in Salon Natasha. From left to right: Bùi Hữu Hùng, Đỗ Minh Tâm and Hans Schodder (German officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hanoi; art collector). © Salon Natasha Archive.
ARTWORKS RELATED TO NHÀ SÀN STUDIO
Dawn at the Window
1982
Untitled
circa 1995
Untitled
circa 1995
Untitled
circa 1995
Lacquer studios in Hanoi
Following the dissolution of the collective, Bui Huu Hung continued to work in the West Lake stilt house studio and soon opened three additional lacquer studios in the same area. These spaces allowed him to accommodate larger-scale works and respond to growing demand for his practice, both in Vietnam and internationally.
During this period, he expanded his team of assistants and technicians, many of whom have continued working with him over the long term. The studios functioned as interconnected sites of research, creation, and training.
Bui Huu Hung working on the Red Alluvium series. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation
Technicians creating vóc at Bui Huu Hung’s studio. © Galerie Brigitte
Bui Huu Hung, Vogue, 2018 – 2024. Phú Thọ lacquer, clay powder, wood powder, ochre pigment, cinnabar powder, gold powder, silver powder, gold leaf, silver leaf, coarse burlap, muslin on canvas, 30 x 30 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, Étude on the Techniques of Jean Dunand, 2016 – 2024. Lacquer on wood, 211 x 211 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, Eternal Time, 1998 – 2024. Lacquer on wood, 122 x 122 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, The Mother Goddess of the Highlands, 2016. Lacquer on wood, 122 x 122 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, Still Life, 2006. Lacquer on wood, 122 x 122 cm. Private Collection. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, Bamboo Landscape. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Marly-le-Roi Studio
In 2014, Bui Huu Hung and Doan Chi Trung were invited by the Association des Amitiés Franco-Vietnamiennes, in collaboration with Sorbonne University, to establish a temporary lacquer studio in Marly-le-Roi, just outside Paris. Installed in a country house in the quiet suburban town, the studio allowed the artists to test the behaviour of lacquer under European climatic conditions, particularly in a drier environment. The experiment resulted in a series of objects, sculptures, and works on both small and large scales.
Bui Huu Hung, Sisters in the Family, 2014. Lacquer on canvas, 145 x 260 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung working at the Marly-le-Roi Studio. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation
Lacquer exhibition presenting a series of objects, sculptures, and works at various scales, Marly-le-Roi, France, 2014.
View from Bui Huu Hung’s studio in Hoi An, Vietnam. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Hoi An Studio
After years of travelling between Hanoi and Hoi An for projects, Bui Huu Hung opened a studio and private exhibition space near Cua Dai Beach. The coastal setting enabled him to work away from Hanoi for extended periods while maintaining an active studio practice. The Hoi An studio saw a period of renewed experimentation, particularly with large-scale compositions, surface texture, and landscape imagery.
ARTWORKS CREATED IN HOI AN STUDIO
Bui Huu Hung, Hồ Chí Minh–A Journalist, 2007. Lacquer on canvas, 200 x 550 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Bui Huu Hung, Water Lilies, 2011. Lacquer on canvas, 210 x 420 cm. © Bui Huu Hung Foundation.
Power in the Shadows – Power of the South
2019
Power in the Shadows – Jesus on the Cross
2019
Power in the Shadows – Imposed Faith
2019