Mekong Mechanical, 18’32”, 2012
Becoming Alluvium, 16’40”, 2019
Thao Nguyen Phan (b. 1987) lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Trained as a painter, Phan is a multimedia artist whose practice encompasses video, painting and installation. Drawing from literature, philosophy and daily life, Phan observes ambiguous issues in social conventions and history.
Phan exhibits internationally, with solo and group exhibitions including Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France, 2025), Pirelli HangarBiccoca (Milan, Italy, 2023); Venice Art Biennial (Venice, Italy, 2022); Tate St Ives, (Cornwall, UK, 2022); Chisenhale gallery (London, 2020); WIELS (Brussels, 2020); Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai, 2019); Lyon Biennale (Lyon, 2019); Sharjah Biennial (Sharjah Art Foundation, 2019); Dhaka Art Summit (2018); Para Site (Hong Kong, 2018); Factory Contemporary Art Centre (Ho Chi Minh City, 2017); Nha San Collective (Hanoi, 2017); and Bétonsalon (Paris, 2016), among others.
She was shortlisted for the 2019 Hugo Boss Asia Art Award and she was granted the Han Nefkens Foundation-LOOP Barcelona Video Art Production Award 2018, in collaboration with Fundaciò Joan Miró. In addition to her work as a multimedia artist, she is co-founder of the collective Art Labor, which explores cross disciplinary practices and develops art projects that benefit the local community. Thao Nguyen Phan is expanding her “theatrical fields”, including what she calls performance gesture and moving images. Phan is a 2016-2017 Rolex Protégée, mentored by internationally acclaimed, New York-based, performance and video artist, Joan Jonas.
Phan’s work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art, United States; Tate, United Kingdom; Centre Pompidou, France; National Gallery Singapore, Singapore; Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris and San Francisco; The Nguyen Art Foundation, Vietnam; The Outpost Arts Organization, Vietnam; and others.