Moon River

Moon River: A group exhibition

Gate Gate Gallery is pleased to announce "Moon River," a group exhibition featuring works by Jo Ngo, Phạm Thị Hồng Sâm, Hà Huy Mười, Hà Huy Hiệp, Lê Văn Trọng, Bùi Duy Hùng, and Laurent Judge.This exhibition explores a range of works that highlight the different artistic language of each artist. Through each work, viewers are invited to delve into the boundless potential and possibilities of visual art, encouraging them to discover new emotions and ways of thinking.

For film enthusiasts, the title 'Moon River' readily conjures the image of Holly Golightly, played by the iconic Audrey Hepburn, sitting by the window and singing wistfully.The iconic scene depicts a beautiful girl in an uncertain future, lost in the lyrics about a somewhat fictional landscape compared to the urban reality. Though Audrey Hepburn's gaze is tinged with sadness, always distant and contemplative, it is filled with the aspirations not only of a girl in love but also of the youth.

The song 'Moon River,' one of Hollywood's greatest songs, almost didn't make it to the screen due to Hepburn's initial reluctance. It wasn't until composer Henry Mancini spent a month refining it to suit the actress's voice that it came to be. Lyricist Johnny Mercer drew inspiration from his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, creating a romantic yet melancholic tune that became a part of cinematic history.

The scene of Holly singing with the guitar turns the usual dynamic found in old movies and literature on its head, where typically the boy sings to the girl. Instead, 'Moon River' is a song for Holly herself, expressing her feelings, loneliness, and the desires of the youth. For some, it is a love song; for others, it is not. The river or the moonlight are just metaphors for what the narrator aims for, whether they are a 'dreamer' or a 'heartbreaker.' Part real, part unreal, and part distant. Ultimately, the metaphor of moonlight reflected in the river expresses the urge for an unpredictable, daring life that contemporary youth are ready to embark on, even if they don't know where it will lead.

Art, like the meandering course of a river, is unpredictable and capricious. Some beauty fades overnight, but some remains etched in your mind; the more you try to understand it, the more perplexing it becomes. Visual art never has a definitive endpoint for both the creator and the observer. Somewhere, both will encounter a moment of aesthetic convergence and then continue on, even if it's just for the briefest moment of distraction. The 'Moon River' exhibition maximizes the use of form, aesthetics, and reflections of participating artists, with a variety of materials, colors, and styles—from the simple to the intricate. The intergenerational group is united by their quest to find their own flow. Consequently, viewers entering Gate Gate’s space gets to embark on a journey of self-discovery, following their own currents—whether emotional, visual, or a reflection of themselves within the world of art.

“Wherever you’re going…I’m going your way"