Nottingham Contemporary

This summer we present the first major UK exhibition of the work of Danh Võ. Võ’s work explores the intersections of personal experience and major historical events, including the impact and mutations of Catholicism as it spread through colonisation.

His artworks reflect on the paradoxes inherent in the construction of identity. His use of objects evokes the historical circumstances that shape contemporary life.

“I don’t believe that things come from within you. To me things come out of the continuous dialogue you have with your surroundings,” he has said.

Danh Võ was born on the island of Phu Quoc, in South Vietnam in 1975 and eventually granted political asylum in Denmark, where he was raised. Since 2009 Võ has been collaborating with his father, Phung Võ, a skilled calligrapher, who has made new works for the exhibition.