Hom Nguyen

In 2020, the artist made a record auction for an amount of €224,000 in favor of the NGO the Children of the Mekong. Thanks to this sale, 750 children will be able to be fed and will receive additional lessons at the center for a year, including drawing lessons. Hom hopes to motivate other artists and enhance a sense of generosity in the art world.

In 2019, working in association with the Monnaie de Paris Museum and vogue magazine, he creates Michele Obama’s iconic portrait. The auction of this work of art by Christie’s is a success. The money raised is used to fund UN Women’s programs for sex equality and women empowerment. This same year, he pays a vibrant tribute to Edit Piaf by giving birth to a monumental portrait currently being displayed in the entrance hall of Tenon Hospital’s Meyneil wing. A gigantic permanent masterpiece also covers the outside wall of the same building, where Edit Piaf was born in 1915. Next, the artist took part in the 250th birthday celebration of Napoleon Bonaparte by creating a contemporary portrait of the emperor for the MUDACC (museum of the art of the citadel in Calvi).

During that same time, the artist puts on an exhibition titled Portraits of Legionnaires for the 2nd foreign regiment of paratroopers at the Camp Raffalli in Corsica. This encounter leaves a profound mark on the artist. The French Foreign Legion’s values, its traditions and its attachment to France, which are born from its personal stories, resonate with the artist’s origins. Colonel Christophe Passerat de la Chapelle would later say “Hom Nguyen has this legionnaire soul”

The first series Hidden ,"Sans Repères" and "Inner Cry" continue to pay tribute to the artist’s mother and the history of immigration. Each one leads the audience to feel the pains and nightmares experienced by these children and illustrate the interpretation of our subconscious dreams: on one hand, the desire to establish a first human interaction necessarily requires eye contact; on the other hand, shouting for help is not necessarily heard. No sound comes out, only the inner cry remains.

The fleetingness of the artist’s life lines facilitate the emergence of an emotional experience where barriers fade. His works fit in the transition between figurative and abstract art, serving to question the lines between material and intellect, emotion and questioning. The artist’s intent is to open the individual to the possibility of changeability, of an openness toward others.

During the 2016 edition of the contemporary art fair Art Paris Art Fair, held at the Grand Palais in Paris, French President François Hollande came to appreciate Hom Nguyen's work. On June 15, 2016, Hom Nguyen presented the series "Sans Repères" for the first time in the Palais de Tokyo.

Since 2016, Hom Nguyen has led a drawing and painting workshop at the psychiatric ward of the hospital of the Pitié-Salpêtrière with adolescent patients in Professor David Cohen's unit.

Hom Nguyen is a self-taught, French-born artist of Vietnamese heritage. He often works in large-format portraiture. His work has been featured in solo and collective exhibitions since 2011.

Many collaborations (notably one with the designer Ora-Ito in 2011) guided him further into the world of design and art. In 2009, Nguyen moved into a large workshop in Bagnolet, allowing him to start portraits on large format canvases. Since then, Hom Nguyen has devoted himself to drawing and painting. His works are increasingly exposed to the world through international contemporary art exhibitions. The Bangkok Post highlights that the artist never stops himself from making a foray into other lands, such as his perspective on Asian artistic and philosophical tradition. As the representative of occidental and oriental culture, Hom Nguyen works toward widening the cultural set, creating a bridge between France and Asia.

Although he was interested in drawings and making portraits since childhood, Nguyen's life shows that his daily responsibilities delayed his entry into the art world. Hom Nguyen decided to start his own business as a leather patina artist in 2009, the year his mother's died. He originally worked as a shoe salesman.