20.02.1987–?
Vũ Tú
Vũ Tú (b. 1987) graduated from the physics department of Hồng Đức University as the top student of his year, then turned to stone carving. He taught himself sculpture, later refining his skills in Ho Chi Minh City, Huế and the village of Non Nước near Da Nang. He works directly in a block of natural stone, without intermediate models: Buddha statues, bonsai pots, water basins, altars.
Biography
Physics came first. Vũ Tú studied physics at Hồng Đức University for four years and graduated first in his year; during his studies he received several scholarships and academic awards. While still at school, his name appeared in a science magazine for secondary-school pupils.
He was born on 20 February 1987 in the village of Ngọc Quan, in Lâm Thao commune, in the northern province of Bắc Ninh, a region known for its scholarly traditions. He belongs to the Vũ family, which counted several notable historical figures: the historian and high official Vũ Miên, and Vũ Trinh, author of the “Gia Long Code”. The family, it seems, valued learning, and his first successes were in science. After university he moved from science to art. He learned stone sculpture on his own and filled in the gaps at several centres: the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts, the University of Arts in Huế and the craft village of Non Nước in Da Nang. There is no formal sculpture degree in that list, and I think this explains a good deal about his approach: he comes to form through calculation rather than through an academic school. He works directly in a monolithic block of natural stone, without intermediate models. His pieces include bonsai pots, water basins, altars, Buddha statues and Christian figures. Most often he takes up religious subjects, above all Buddhist ones. He says himself that he thinks like someone who has studied mathematics and physics, and in stone he is concerned with composition, light and depth. His favourite material is white marble; of the fine grains of stone he says that they are beautiful. He acknowledges the influence of Michelangelo and still calls himself “a student of Michelangelo”.
His main work is done in Ho Chi Minh City, but he has also worked for long periods in Huế and Da Nang. In 2019 his pieces were shown at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in Hanoi and at the Mỹ Sơn heritage exhibition.
The Vietnamese press calls him the foremost of the country’s stone sculptors, and the website Việt Nam Văn Hiến has listed him among its “distinguished Vietnamese”.
Profile notes