Hanh Kien Art Gallery: tropically inspired originals and prints by a famous artist.
It's been a long journey to Main Street in Sarasota for Hanh Kien, a Vietnamese-born artist. Kien studied art in Vietnam and Cambodia, and became captivated by the boundless possibilities of impressionism before the Communists took power in 1975. Unfortunately, under the Communist government this style of painting was forbidden. "Education, culture and art were all controlled," he says. To make a living under the new regime, he turned to portraits, making his own "charcoal" by burning car tires and using the smoky residue.He became an acclaimed artist, but to Kien, success meant artistic freedom. He escaped first to Cambodia in 1982 and then to Thailand, where he taught art in a refugee camp for years. Eventually, after telling the U.S. ambassador, "I'm an artist. I want freedom," he was able to emigrate in 1985.
Today, after years of selling his paintings--many of them tropically inspired scenes ct soft, earthy hues--through wholesale dealers in this country, he has fulfilled a lifelong dream, opening his own gallery. Situated on lower Main Street, the Hanh Kien Art Gallery is filled with his beautiful impressionist "sculpture paintings." Kien textures his paintings with acrylic paint so that his images virtually leap off the canvas. A heron in gold seems ready to take off if startled. An elephant and her baby seem ready to walk into the room. A ghostly gold ship sails away on a sea of muted bluegreens and pinks.
Kien creates commissioned commercial and personal pieces as welt as his own fine art. "When art is created by the hand and the heart it makes art more powerful," he says. "This is my chance to create the style of art I like to do."
Hanh Kien Art Gallery
1310 Main St. Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 363-7822
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| Title Annotation: | Who's Who In Real Estate & Design |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Sarasota Magazine |
| Date: | Oct 1, 2003 |
| Words: | 296 |
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