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I Am A Vietnamese American: Alex Nguyen-Vo

Headshot of Alex Nguyen-Vo in front of an abstract portrait.

Alex Nguyen-Vo was born in Houston, Texas to Vietnamese refugees of the American War in Vietnam. He received his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and BFA from the University of Houston. He has had solo exhibitions at Deli Gallery in New York City, Fjord Space in Philadelphia, and Hidrante in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition, he has been curated in group exhibitions at Team Titanic in Berlin, Torrance Art Museum, Julius Caesar Chicago, Beverly's NYC, and Vox Populi Philadelphia. Recently, he was an artist in residence at the Speculative Place residency in Hong Kong.

What are you eating for comfort these days?

What am I not eating? For real though. Mostly, jerked chicken and pork tacos.

What are you binge watching/reading? playing on repeat?

Maaan, I've been just playing Chess on Chess.Com and streaming it on Twitch. Add me @chess_mayne on Chess.com. Chessmayne is my Twitch handle.

What was the last song you had stuck in your head?

Cayendo by Frank Ocean 😭

What is your favorite unpopular opinion?

Lumpias is the KING OF SPRING ROLLS

What was the last thing that made you smile or laugh?

Seems rare nowadays but roasting people in my mind usually brings a smile.

What is the most interesting piece of art you've seen?

The removal of The Frank Rizzo statue

Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

"Thinking, in the strong sense, begins with eros. To be able to think, one must first have been a friend, a lover. Without eros, thinking loses all vitality and turmoil, and becomes repetitive and reactive." - Byung-Chul Han (The Agony of Eros)

"...eros is the experience of melting" - Anne Carson (Eros the bittersweet)

"O my body, always make me a man who questions!" - Frantz Fanon (Black Skin, White Masks)