An “Exchange of Cultures:” Vietnam’s Xeo Chu on Display in Ottawa

On September 19th, in honour of Vietnam National Day, the Embassy of Vietnam in Canada hosted an exhibition of paintings by Vietnam’s prolific art prodigy: 17-year-old Xeo Chu. With an impressive résumé of several solo exhibits, paintings sold for upwards of $150,000 USD, and regular comparisons to Jackson Pollock, this Vietnamese painting prodigy is showcasing Vietnamese fine arts to a Canadian audience. Four of his pieces were temporarily displayed at the Château Laurier to celebrate Vietnam’s 79th year of independence.

Xeo Chu’s ascend to the highest sphere of fine art was destined from the very beginning. With a mother who championed Vietnamese fine arts through the curation of her own gallery and a childhood where learning to paint coincided with learning to walk, it is easy to see how Chu came to be known internationally as a prodigy. His pieces completed at the age of seven show staggering landscapes of Vietnam’s lush green rivers in the Mekong Delta, and his portraits from age six boast an impressive use of colour and shape to capture his big brother’s wily smile and his father’s stern expression. At just four years old, he completed his first piece: a self portrait, titled My First Painting.

Since then, Chu has created over 200 works, which are housed in public and private collections all over the world. In his seventeen years, Chu has already reached milestones that many artists can only dream of. In 2019, Chu hosted a solo exhibition at the George Berges Gallery in Manhattan, which he titled “Big World, Little Eyes.” The crowning jewel of Chu’s Manhattan collection was a 15-foot, four-panel painting—“My mom told me I was going to have an exhibition in New York,” remarked a then twelve-year-old Chu, “so, I was like, ‘Oh, let’s make a big painting for this.’ That took like three months.” It was at his New York exhibition that American critics began to take notice of the Vietnamese prodigy, and Jackson Pollock comparisons quickly followed.

Chu’s four pieces at Vietnamese National Day depicted rose and pear blossoms in bloom. He is well-known for his depictions of flowers. As a child, Chu would paint his mother’s bouquets of flowers so that she could enjoy their beauty long after they wilted, and he today continues to be inspired by his mother’s vibrant rose garden.

“Flowers are a topic that is close to my heart,” Chu told Ottawa Life Magazine. “This influence mainly comes from my mother. Her interest in floral arrangement makes it so that there is always a flower vase in the house, becoming a familiar object in my investigations and practices. This especially became apparent to me in the time period of quarantine when I only painted the floral vases around the house . . . I feel a connection as I interact with the vase and the intention in the arrangement, which prompts me to paint my interpretation of the beauty within the flowers with respect to the artist that carefully arranged it.”

Chu’s paintings also cover a vast array of subjects besides flowers, usually spotlighting Vietnamese landscapes and the splendor of the natural world. He captures Vietnam’s golden rice fields at harvest time, bright red sunrises over the South China Sea in Ho Tram, and the frothing blue waters of Ha Long Bay. In 2018, Chu visited Canada during autumn and was taken by the sight of yellow forests. After this trip, Chu completed three pieces inspired by the dazzling Canadian autumn he witnessed: Yellow Autumn in Canada, Gold Autumn, and Sunrise in Autumn.

ABOVE: Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Vinh Quang at the exhibition of Xeo Chu in collaboration with artisan handicraft products.

At the Vietnam National Day celebration, the Château Laurier’s Adam Room briefly became home to four of Chu’s pieces. While Chu’s blossoms took centre stage at the exhibition, the paintings were showcased alongside several pieces of handcrafted Vietnamese fine art, including gold-inlaid trays, eggshell-lacquer boxes, and intricate tapestries that took inspiration from Chu’s famous floral imagery. The exhibition was curated by Vietnam’s SANN: the House of Art, a Ho Chi Minh City-based gallery that takes pride in preserving traditional Vietnamese art forms that are quickly disappearing as Vietnam continues to urbanize. These efforts were thoroughly enjoyed by the Canadians who visited the exhibition and were treated to a taste of Vietnam’s fine arts.

Chu himself has also gone to great lengths to preserve traditional Vietnamese artistry, visiting artisans across Vietnam to gain an understanding and appreciation of his cultural heritage. As a result, Chu’s works offer a unique blend of Vietnamese tradition, contemporary mediums, and his own perspective of the beauty around him. 

What’s next for Xeo Chu? “My biggest focus in life lies within academics,” Chu told OLM. “I am moving closer to finishing my senior year of high school. This has put a halt in my artmaking, however, I am aiming to pursue art and expand my knowledge abroad in university as I plan to further develop my art and not take the privilege provided by my family for granted.”

Chu feels that the opportunity to present his art to Canadians was significant because it “means the exchange of cultures that will hopefully see more light.”