Nguyen Hoang Long (Bill Nguyen)

Profile

born 1988

lives and works in Hanoi - Vietnam

Works

Bill's performance at INACT 2010

Bio

Long Hoang Nguyen was born and raised in Hoan Kiem District, the historical center of Hanoi. At the age of 15 he formally adopted the moniker name Bill and transplanted to a Zimbabwean household in England to finish education. After graduating with a First class honor degree in Fine Arts at Nottingham Trent University, Bill returned to Hanoi, re-entering the city through multiple trajectories in the arts community: engaging as an artist, organizer, translator, on top of writing incisive review of contemporary art. Bill participated in the ’10+’ exhibition at Nhasan Studio (Hanoi), completed a residency project at Saigon-based artist initiative albb’s Open Studio Program, and together with Linh Phuong Nguyen and Gabby Quynh-Anh Miller he was the co-director of IN:ACT 2010 and 2011.

In his artworks, Bill combines different aspects of performance with sculpture, installation and text. He is intrigued by human behavior and surroundings, by the relationship between these factors and how they affect, alter and manipulate one another. The root of this fascination comes from the fact that Bill has always been an outsider and a foreigner, to both Vietnamese and British cultures. However, being twin-cultured is in fact a powerful factor feeding his art practice and helping him to understand, explore and disrupt everyday life through his artworks. No matter what the medium or the location, Bill’s work is always a response to this mixing and matching of cultural differences.