‘Urban Layers’ presents Wallovers first group exhibition, which shares the story of Saigon city in artistic language told by the Vietnamese youth. Leaving the big picture, Wallovers wanted to channel their unique perspectives with the city that nurtured them. The artists do not restrict their voices but aim to focus more on their own narratives through personal introspection. Wallovers consists of three main artists: zkhoa (Trang Nhon Khoa), Cresk (Nguyen Tan Luc) and Daes (Luu Doan Duy Linh). In this exhibition, in addition to the founding members of Wallovers, Deska (Pham Thanh Nguyen) will showcase a number of artworks as a featured artist.
‘Urban Layers’ is a sidewalk of street art using visual means to translate into language tales of the city. If zkhoa sees the truest aspects of the ‘rat race,’ the never-ending pursuit of matter to make a living and survive. Cresk chose for himself a human logo; the image of the modern Vietnamese woman. Seeking to recreate their everyday emotional experiences; he embodies feminine elements with religious themes of Vietnamese culture. Daes chose to dissect his childhood, looking at the city through the cultural glass associated with mythological creatures which fascinate him: the image of the Qilin, the Lion and the Dragon in a new contemporary form. Deska plays the role of a reciprocal visual storyteller, while collaborating with zkhoa to regenerate the powerful rhythm opposite to Cresk and Daes,
depicting a story with a volume of chaos.
Wallovers have applied an array division, layering and city decomposition in ‘Urban Layers’
as a reinterpretation of social realities; at the same time assuming a utopian world that combines traditional values with the development of the digital future. The stratification in the exhibition aims to create contrasts in the specific cultural perspectives of each artist; the disparity between reality and development, creating a transformational landscape for the future in the eyes of the Vietnamese youth.
In the modern era, culture is not only defined by methods of modern communication or ends at old nostalgia values. Wallovers revolutionize their realities and transform ideas with ‘popular’ culture references they are familiar with. Wallovers' main practice in ‘Urban Layers’ is Graffiti combined with Augmented Reality (AR) technology to enhance physical immersion and connection. Digital transformation has changed the landscape of traditional art leading to public debate on the convenience and real experience of the two art forms. For Wallovers, they aim to constantly renew art materials in their practice, redefining concepts with digital story-telling and expansion of virtual space. Graffiti is no longer limited to eroded surfaces in the urban landscape, but paralleled by technology to reflect new social contexts towards digital transformation in art.
In Vietnam, we are naturally confronted by the writings and images scrawled on walls, blockhouses and rolling doors. It has gradually become an unorthodox feature in Vietnamese memory. Cutting layers of the city from details that tend to be overlooked (or even offensive) and converting it into an artistic story. The aim of the exhibition is to not only communicate the colors of Saigon culture but also unveils Graffiti and the artists who practice it into the light. ‘Urban Layers’ challenges the status quo of legitimizing Graffiti art, as a stepping stone for a ‘controversial’ art form. Should art be the legal legitimacy of the law, or should it remain at the core of bringing a personal voice to every corner of the street as the starting point for Graffiti? Wallovers are given an opportunity to break down the barriers of prejudice about ‘destructiveness’ in public thinking.
‘Urban Layers’ desires to bring a new perspective through familiarity. Expanding the conversation with powerful messages and symbolic characters that elevate the potential for the future of street art. The combination of technology elements and traditional materials, the dissection of the city from individual angles, the contrast between the two contemporary and cultural opposites, the hustle and bustle in the exhibition space will express social differences and ultimately challenge the masses in a new adaptation of a cultural city in the eyes of young people.
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