Sigma Gallery introduces Clouds Passing Through an Urban Dream, a personal exhibition by artist Nguyen Xuan Anh, taking place from August 8 to September 9, 2026 at Sigma Gallery. Including 26 lacquer and oil works created in recent years, the exhibition marks an important shift in Nguyen Xuan Anh’s artistic practice, while opening a new perspective on the relationship between humans, urban areas and nature in a contemporary context.
For more than two decades of writing, Nguyen Xuan Anh persistently pursued the theme of landscape and urbanization – a topic associated with Vietnam’s transformation process since the beginning of the 21st century. However, instead of viewing nature and the city as two opposing entities, this series of works shows a remarkable shift in the artist’s thinking. Urbanism is no longer a symbol of conflict with nature; Nature is no longer an image of a lost memory. In Nguyen Xuan Anh’s paintings, both coexist, transform and rely on each other as different expressions of the same living space.
Originating from ideas “when landscape ceases to be a place, but becomes a human state”, the exhibition poses a close but evocative question: how do people retain the ability to perceive beauty in an increasingly complex world, where urban development, technology and artificial intelligence are constantly changing the way we see and experience life?
The highlight of Nguyen Xuan Anh’s practice is the way he organizes space using rhythm instead of traditional perspective. Overlapping layers of color, expressive brush strokes and intentionally retained gaps keep the painting surface in a constant state of movement. Viewers do not stand outside to observe a landscape, but are led into the very flow of light, memory and time. Painting therefore does not just recreate the landscape, but becomes an experience of presence.
The exhibition is built as a visual journey consisting of three spaces:
Mo Pho opens with lacquer works, where the image of the city is reconstructed through memory. Roofs, slopes, pine trees and architectural blocks are no longer descriptions of specific places but become fragments of emotions and time.
Passing Clouds introduces a series of large-format oil paintings, in which nature is interpreted in terms of color and rhythm rather than form. Color not only creates composition but also guides the eye, opening up a space where nature, memories and emotions are continuously transformed into each other.
Closing the exhibition is Symbiosis, with the focus on a set of three lacquer paintings Wild Forest. The winding tree trunks, calligraphic stripes and multi-layered lacquered surfaces create a powerful energy field, where nature is no longer seen as an object to be admired, but as a flow of life.
Approval Clouds pass by, dreaming of the city, Sigma Gallery continues to pursue the direction of building proactive curatorial projects, where exhibitions not only introduce works but also open new dialogues about contemporary Vietnamese art. For Nguyen Xuan Anh, this is not only a personal exhibition, but also a milestone for a new creative phase – where painting becomes a means to reflect on the symbiosis between humans, nature and urban areas in the 21st century.
Exhibition information
Exhibition: Clouds pass through the city | Clouds Passing Through an Urban Dream
Artist: Nguyen Xuan Anh
Giám tuyển & Tổ chức: Sigma Gallery
Time: August 8 – September 9, 2026
Location: Sigma Gallery, 107 N3C, Global City, Binh Trung, City. Ho Chi Minh
Works on display: 26 lacquer and oil paintings.
Lesson: Navigator Media
