Dinh Q. Lê
Working in photography, film, and installation, Dinh Q. Lê (he/him) (1968-2024) presented little-known narratives of war and migration from the perspective of the global Vietnamese diaspora. Synthesizing his own memory and perception with popular depictions in entertainment and journalism from Western and Eastern cultures, Lê’s singular voice reframed global histories of Southern Vietnam, challenging censorship, exploitation, and propaganda from all sides. Lê was born in Ha Tien, a Vietnamese town near the Cambodia border. Soon after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, the Lê family immigrated to Los Angeles. After receiving a BFA from UC Santa Barbara, Lê began his first photo-weavings using a traditional technique he learned from his aunt. Lê participated in the 2013 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; the 2009 Biennale Cuveê, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria; the 2008 Singapore Biennale, Singapore; and the 2006 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia. His work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; MoMA PS1, New York, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Tufts University Art Gallery, MA; and the Asia Society, NY; among many others. In 2010, he was awarded the Prince Claus Award for his outstanding contribution to cultural exchange. P·P·O·W has represented Lê since 1998, presenting seven solo exhibitions before his sudden passing in April 2024. Devoted to asserting his own cultural history through his artistic practice, Lê established the nonprofit contemporary art space Sàn Art, leaving behind space for future generations to engage in their own pursuit of reclamation. In The Art Newspaper, Christopher Moore noted that “Dinh was an uncle to everyone in the Vietnamese art scene, young or old, local or foreigner, mentor to many.” In 2022, Lê’s work was shown in the solo exhibition Photographing the thread of memory, musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France, and the group exhibition Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, National Gallery, Singapore. Weaving the Narrative: The Works of Dinh Q. Lê is currently on view at Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN.”Working in photography, film, and installation, Dinh Q. Lê (1968-2024) presented little-known narratives of war and migration from the perspective of the global Vietnamese diaspora. Synthesizing his own memory and perception with popular depictions in entertainment and journalism from Western and Eastern cultures, Lê’s singular voice reframed global histories of Southern Vietnam, challenging censorship, exploitation, and propaganda from all sides. Lê was born in Ha Tien, a Vietnamese town near the Cambodia border. Soon after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, the Lê family immigrated to Los Angeles. After receiving a BFA from UC Santa Barbara, Lê began his first photo-weavings using a traditional technique he learned from his aunt. Lê participated in the 2013 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; the 2009 Biennale Cuveê, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria; the 2008 Singapore Biennale, Singapore; and the 2006 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia. His work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; MoMA PS1, New York, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Tufts University Art Gallery, MA; and the Asia Society, NY; among many others. In 2010, he was awarded the Prince Claus Award for his outstanding contribution to cultural exchange. P·P·O·W has represented Lê since 1998, presenting seven solo exhibitions before his sudden passing in April 2024. Devoted to asserting his own cultural history through his artistic practice, Lê established the nonprofit contemporary art space Sàn Art, leaving behind space for future generations to engage in their own pursuit of reclamation. In The Art Newspaper, Christopher Moore noted that “Dinh was an uncle to everyone in the Vietnamese art scene, young or old, local or foreigner, mentor to many.” In 2022, Lê’s work was shown in the solo exhibition Photographing the thread of memory, musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France, and the group exhibition Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, National Gallery, Singapore. Weaving the Narrative: The Works of Dinh Q. Lê is currently on view at Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN.
Artist biography courtesy of PPOW Gallery.
Work Description
Damaged Gene, 1998
Knitted Sweater
Courtesy of Hung Viet Nguyen
The orange baby’s sweater in the exhibition is a component of Damaged Gene, a larger installation work by Dinh Q. Lê in 1998 during the time when the Vietnamese government issued international lawsuits against companies that were associated with the dispersal and use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Originally, Dinh Q. Lê set up a pop-up exhibition within the Saigon Trade Center and filled it with toys, baby clothing, and miniatures. Each object was altered to have two heads, an explicit comment on the detriment and lasting effects Agent Orange has had on the Vietnamese. Damaged Gene raised public awareness on the damage Agent Orange caused through the visualization of conjoined twins illuminating the biological atrocities and chemical warfare conducted during the war.