Twenty Years In Art’ opened at Tu Do Gallery December 10, marking 20 years of artist Ha, the owner of the gallery. The show features 65 paintings made of oil on canvas and lacquer, depicting the beauty of female portraits, splendid landscapes, still life, childhood memories and festive atmospheres.

“Twenty years is not a long time for a human life but rather long for a career with many ups and downs and memories. So this exhibition will feature my first works and latest works, presenting the nostalgia of first memories, endless passion and affectionate love for art as well as a look back at a 20-year journey,” said Ha.

Born in ${bigcity_Hue:"Hue"} City in 1952, she went to university in ${bigcity_Ho_Chi_Minh_City:”HCMC”} to study business and chanced upon art. She said: “Since becoming a gallery owner, I lived among paintings and as I looked at them every day, it inspired me to paint. As if guided by destiny, I suddenly became an enthusiastic painter.”

Therefore, as a self-taught painter bound by no rules, her paintings express her sincere feelings, freedom and naivety. With exuberant colors, applied directly from the color-tubes onto canvas, and innocent sketches, guided by the dance of painter’s knife, she creates her own style.

At her show visitors will have a chance to play with colors, to indulge in romantic scenes of the sky, sea, trees and flowers, to recall childhood memories with cats, little boys and girls or recall first dates.

“Her topics are portrait, still life and landscapes but they imply much deeper undercurrents of meaning,” said a friend and fellow artist Rung.

During her 20-year career, Ha has given numerous solo exhibition and joined group exhibitions in Vietnam, Sweden, Australia, Belgium, the U.S., Singapore and Hong Kong.

The show runs until January 1 at the gallery, 53 Ho Tung Mau Street in HCMC’s District 1.