[Fall 1997]

by Pierre Blache

A Montrealer of Vietnamese origin, Xuân-Huy Nguyen earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts (photography major) from Concordia University. With Compositions, Nguyen casts a critical eye on Quebec photography, which he feels is distant and bland.

Appropriating images made by well-known photographers, he plays with irony and irreverence to shake up the established art-photography milieu. He seeks to intrigue and disturb by distancing himself from the nostalgia, intemporality and self-portrayal too often associated with Quebec society. His images are presented in light boxes, in order to make the colours and contrasts more rich and attractive.