Nguyễn Văn Cường, born in 1972 in Thái Bình, hailed from a family where his mother served as a mechanical cooperative worker and his father as a local commune official. Between 1991 and 1996, he studied Painting at Hanoi University of Fine Arts. He emerged as a pivotal figure in the Hanoi Trio, alongside Nguyễn Minh Thành and Nguyễn Quang Huy, pioneering contemporary art in the 1990s and 2000s. His artistic practice spans painting, performance, installation, and experimental music. Cuong's paintings ingeniously blend caricature, Pop Art, combining propaganda motifs and the visual aesthetics of Dao worship paintings. These compositions reflect his profound reflections on the evolving landscape of Vietnamese society from the subsidy to Đổi Mới periods. In his performances, Cường masterfully combines elements of early experimental theater, eschewing scripts in favor of multimedia expressions, encompassing sound, light, and body language to evoke poignant metaphors extracted from societal realities. His experimental music endeavors serve as a convergence point between traditional melodies and Western musical trends prevalent in Vietnam during that era, including Pop, Rock, and Metal.

During his initial phase of practice from 1996 to 1999, Cường primarily focused on painting and performance to critique social malaise and the encroachment of Western influences post-Đổi Mới. Notable works from this period include the series Karaoke (1996–?) and Cultural Pollution (1998), alongside performances such as Mother and Son (1996, in collaboration with Trương Tân) and Honda Dream Concert (1999). From 2000 to 2006, in addition to painting and performance, Cường delved into installation and experimental music, crafting stage background music and digital compositions. His seminal work, Theory of dark light (2003), exemplifies his creative output during this period. In 2003, Cường conceived the idea of Nowherefolk, an experimental music performance based on the sounds of obscure Vietnamese folk tunes. Its debut at Room-Zoom, the 5 anniversary of Nhà Sàn Studio in 2003, in collaboration with Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng and Nguyễn Xuân Sơn (Son X), laid the groundwork for derivative works by subsequent artists such as Quách Đông Phương. Between 2007 and 2016, Cường returned to painting, exploring intimate themes and emotions. Since 2017, his painting style has transitioned towards abstraction.

Text by VCAD based on an interview with the artist on January 11, 2023.