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caubetho's debut showcased in S.E.A Focus (Singapore)

For SEA Focus 2023, CUC Gallery is pleased to present caubetho one of Vietnam’s emerging artists that conveys daily experiences through pop culture icons. His style of Maximalist Surrealism is ingeniously reflected through the gestural marks, expressive nature, and bold colorization in his works.

With the proliferation of multi-channel social media platforms across the Internet, memes have become a social phenomenon; they signify not only the wax and wane of contemporary popular culture, but also herald in a new form of “sign” language among netizens – a system of intricate and sarcastic terminology. What happens then, when artists, especially those born in the digital age, marry this lexicon with classical materials such as acrylic on canvas? caubetho’s mixed-media world of fantasy allows us a glimpse into that whimsical process.

Plastered over a canvas of lemony yellow with smiley flowers (that evoke the background of SpongeBob SquarePants) is a character that seems to have walked out of Mary Shelley’s novel. Its googly eyes conjunct its swollen magenta lips that stretch into a toothy smile (hints toward The Simpson), adorned by its stream of white hair. From its tall forehead of neon green sprouts yet another face with an impish smile, wearing a mandarin hat with butterfly wings. This caricature is none other than God of Longevity, a venerated deity in both Taoism but has now syncretised into many other cultures - Vietnam included. As a digital nomad who was exposed early to the global wealth of pop culture diffused over the Internet, caubetho remains somewhat detached to traditional figures and cultures of previous generations. Thus, in order to render this traditional deity more familiar, he has given him a make-over, donning him with pop signifiers and bright pastel palettes. One might see this as caubetho’s attempt to assimilate an increasingly obsolete cultural symbol for his generation into his metaverse of memes. Strangely enough, this creates a new God, one that is readily accessible to the digital youths, a meme-ified deity that presides over cyberspace.

Not only a medium for cultural assimilation, caubetho’s painting is also a site of curiosity, where he contemplates on moments of human existence. On The Moment’s collage background of floral stripes and pixelated blocks, a humanoid figure appears as disjointed blocks that resemble early cartoon characters. His body seems to run toward one direction, while his head turns the opposite. Again, the humanoid’s whistling face evokes countless memes on the Internet, or even a subtle hint toward more modernist paintings (Munch’s The Scream). But instead of releasing a silent scream, the head blows out heart shapes in an amorous attempt to woo over some invisible target. Unbeknownst to him, there is a facemask lying in front, and there is a chance he might slip over it and fall. The disjointed blocks of this humanoid hint toward dissociation - an increasingly universal phenomenon, where exhaustion from a capitalist world and environmental collapses causes our body and mind to disconnect. Thus, the head, seemingly or willfully unaware of the body’s alarming state, continues to move onward jovially, disregarding omens ahead (facemask?pandemic?).

These are just a few examples of how caubetho’s deployment of pop culture’s memes becomes a portal through which he examines contemporary phenomena. In his maximalist space, saturated with neon colors and amusing caricatures, we come face to face with the belying unease and restlessness that is induced from a surreal state of existence. Questions are asked, attempts are made. Now, the audiences are invited to respond in their own way.

Special thanks to :

CUC Gallery represent for me

a Zuki, Nai, Cemm, Kho Qua Nhoi Thit, Viet Nu, Kiet for produce the work.

2023