Working in photography, film, and installation, Dinh Q. Lê (1968-2024) presented little-known narratives of war and migration from the perspective of the global Vietnamese diaspora. Synthesizing his own memory and perception with popular depictions in entertainment and journalism from Western and Eastern cultures, Lê’s singular voice reframed global histories of Southern Vietnam, challenging censorship, exploitation, and propaganda from all sides. Lê was born in Ha Tien, a Vietnamese town near the Cambodia border. Soon after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, the Lê family immigrated to Los Angeles. After receiving a BFA from UC Santa Barbara, Lê began his first photo-weavings using a traditional technique he learned from his aunt. Lê participated in the 2013 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; the 2009 Biennale Cuveê, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria; the 2008 Singapore Biennale, Singapore; and the 2006 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia. His work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; MoMA PS1, New York, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Tufts University Art Gallery, MA; and the Asia Society, NY; among many others. In 2010, he was awarded the Prince Claus Award for his outstanding contribution to cultural exchange. P·P·O·W has represented Lê since 1998, presenting seven solo exhibitions before his sudden passing in April 2024. Devoted to asserting his own cultural history through his artistic practice, Lê established the nonprofit contemporary art space Sàn Art, leaving behind space for future generations to engage in their own pursuit of reclamation. In The Art Newspaper, Christopher Moore noted that “Dinh was an uncle to everyone in the Vietnamese art scene, young or old, local or foreigner, mentor to many.” In 2022, Lê was the subject of the exhibition The thread of memory and other photographs, musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France, and was featured in Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, which was on view at the National Gallery Singapore through August 2023. He will be featured in Legacies: The Asian American Art Movement on the East Coast (1969-2001) at NYU’s 80WSE Gallery in fall 2024.
Dinh Q. Lê
b. 1968, Ha-Tien, Vietnam
d. 2024, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Education
1992
M.F.A. Photography and Related Media, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1989
B.A. Fine Arts, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Dinh Q. Lê: Fragile Springs, University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, NH
2022
Photographing the thread of memory, musée du quai Branly, Paris, France
2021
Monuments and Memorials, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2020
Fragile Springs, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2019
Pure Land, Tang Contemporary Art Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
2018
Dinh Q. Lê: True Journey is Return, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
SKIN ON SKIN, Dinh Q. Lê Solo Exhibition, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Dinh Q. Lê: Earthly Delights, Project Fulfill Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan
Dinh Q. Lê: Monuments and Memorials, STPI, Singapore
2017
The Scrolls Distortion, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Colony, Museum Boijimans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2016
Dinh Q. Lê: Beautiful Terror, Viking Union Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Memory for Tomorrow, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
The Colony, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, United Kingdom
The Colony, ArtAngel, Peckham, United Kingdom
The Colony, Site Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom
2015
Memory for Tomorrow, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2014
Crossing the Farther Shore, Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, TX
Warp, Woof, Zero, One, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2013
Fixing the Impermanent, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2012
Erasure, 10 Chancery Lane Art Gallery Projects, Hong Kong
Remnants, Ruins, Civilization, and Empire, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011
Scars and Other Remnants, Prince Claus Fund Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Saigon Diary, University of Buffalo Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Erasure, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia
South China Sea Pishkun, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, United Kingdom
2010
Projects 93: Dinh Q. Lê, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Dinh Q. Lê, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Parkside, Australia
Signs and Signals from the Periphery, ASU Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Elegies, P·P·O·W, New York, New York
2009
Signs and Signals from the Periphery, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
A Tapestry of Memories: The Art of Dinh Q. Lê, Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, MA
All that is Solid, City Vision Festival, Mechelen, Belgium
2008
A Quagmire This Time, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Penal Colony, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
After the War, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
2007
A Tapestry of Memories: The Art of Dinh Q. Lê, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
From Father to Son: A Right of Passage, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2006
The Imaginary Country, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Tapestries, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2005
Vietnam: Destination for the New Millennium, Asia Society, New York, NY
A Higher Plane, Asia Society, New York, NY
2004
Homecoming, University of California Santa Barbara University Art Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
From Vietnam to Hollywood, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
From Vietnam to Hollywood, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Photology, Milan, Italy
2003
From Vietnam to Hollywood, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Waking Dreams, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Qua Ben Nuoc Xua (Collaboration with Sue Hadju), Mai Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2001
We are Named, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
The Texture of Memory, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
Persistence of Memory, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Texture of Memory, Three Rivers Art Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
2000
We are Named: Photo-based Works by Dinh Q. Lê and Michael Rauner, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO
Persistence of Memory, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Cambodia: Splendor & Darkness, The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
True Voyage is Return, Montgomery Gallery, Pomona College, Pomona, CA
1999
Lotusland, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1998
Splendor and Darkness, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
The Headless Buddha, Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies, Los Angeles, CA; Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; Sesnon Gallery, Porter College, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
Uncommon Traits, Relocating Asia, Part III, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY
1992
Tyler School of Art Gallery, Elkins Park, PA
1991
Portraying a White God, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
1990
Midtown Y Photography Gallery, New York, NY
Select Group Exhibitions
2024
Constellations: Racial myths, land, and labour, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada
Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001), 80WSE, New York University, New York, NY
Tradition Interrupted, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA; Juliet Art Museum, Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences, Charleston, WV; Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA; Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, University City, MI; Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY; Lamont Gallery, Phillip Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH; Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Stillwater, OK; Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; Springfield Art Museum, Springfiel, MO; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; The Baker Museum at Artis—Naples, Naples, FL; Marion Art Gallery at SUNY, Fredonia, NY
Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics, The Institutum, Gillman Barracks, Singapore
Ichihara x Art x Connections Crossing of Worlds and Me, Ichihara Lakeside Museum, Ichihara City, Japan
2023
Artists in a Time of War, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, Italy
So it appears, Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2022
Global Asias: Contemporary Asian & Asian American Art, Yellowstone Museum of Art, Billings, MT
Social Fabric: Textiles and Contemporary Issues, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, National Gallery Singapore, Civic District, Singapore
Past/Present/Future: Expanding Indigenous American, Latinx, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Perspectives in Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Global Asias: Contemporary Asian & Asian American Art, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Global Asias: Contemporary Asian & Asian American Art, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
2021
RECOVERY, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
Global Asias: Contemporary Asian & Asian American Art, Palmer Art Museum, University Park, PA
Singapore Children’s Biennale 2021, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore
Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone, Asia Society Museum, New York, NY
The Tides of the Century 2020, Ocean Flower Island Museum, Hainan, China
Living Forgiving Remembering, Museum Arnhem, Netherlands; Kunsthall 3,14, Bergen, Norway
The Space Between Us II, ICONLUXE, Bangkok, Thailand
2020
Living Giving Remembering, Museum Arnhem, Arnhem, Netherlands
Who is Gazing? Musée du Quai Branly, Jacques Chirac, Paris, France
Escape Routes, The Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand
Art for All, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, Portland, OR
2019
Rothko in Lampedusa, Palazzo Querini, Venice, Italy
Dreaming Together: New York Historical and the Asia Society, New York, NY
Framing Time, DENK Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Tradition Interrupted, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2018
Viet Stories: Recollections & Regenerations, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, CA
Imagined Borders, Gwangju Biennale 2018, Gwangju, South Korea
2017
After Darkness Comes the Light: Art in the Wake of History, Asia Society Museum, New York, NY
The Picture Will Still Exist, Dia Projects, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Mekong – New Mythologies, The Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, China
Sunshower: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Asian Diva: The Muse and the Monster, SeMA, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
The Family Camera, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Rosa’s Wound, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
Imaginary Asia, Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2016
Crafting the Future, curated by Daniel Peabody, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Refugees, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, New South Wales, Australia
Woven, curated by John David O’Brien, Sturt Haaga Gallery, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
Salon, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Refugees, Casula Powerhouse Arts Center, New South Wales, Australia
When Things Fall Apart – Critical Voices on the Radars, Traphoit Museum, Kolding, Denmark
Woven, Sturt Haaga gallery, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
2015
Constructed Histories, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
Revolution & Resistance: Responses in Contemporary Print, Technology and Community Activism, Gund Gallery, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
CHANNELS: Media, Culture, and Representation, Articulture Biennial Exhibition, The Gallery at Delaware Count Community College, Media, PA
2014
Transformational Imagemaking: Handmade Photography Since 1960, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Post Traditions/New Voices in Asian Art, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Afterimage: Contemporary Photography in Southeast Asia, The Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
The Sensory War 1914-2014, Whitworth Art Gallery at the University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Immaterial Frontiers, National Visual Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2013
War is for the Living, The Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery, New York, NY
2013 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2012
Power of Doubt, Times Museum, Guangzhou Guangdong, China
Six Lines of Flight: Shifting Geographies in Contemporary Art, SF MOMA San Francisco CA
WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Photographs of Armed Conflict and its Aftermath, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, CA; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
SVA Alumni Show, New York, NY
dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany
2011
6th Curitiba Biennial, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Air Hole, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
Art in the Auditorium: Elodie Pong, Ergin Cavusoglu, Dinh Q Le, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
The Power of Doubt, Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid, Spain
2010
Busan Biennale: Living in Evolution, Busan, South Korea
Nanjing Biennale, Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum, Nanjing City, China
Syntax & Diction: Transforming the Everyday, San Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The Tropics: Views from The Middle of The Globe, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, Thailand
Art Scene Vietnam, ifa Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany
Bodies on the Line Colloquium, New York University, New York, NY
The Creative Time Summit: Revolutions in Public, Practice 2, Cooper Union School of Art, New York, NY
AAI’s Art (Inter)Actions Series, Cuchifritos Gallery, New York, NY
Asian and Asian-American Art from the Permanent Collection, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made After 1960 from the MFAH Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
2009
Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Fukuoka, Japan
World Selection of Contemporary Art, Biennale Cuveé 09, Linz, Austria
NAM BANG!, Casula Powerhouse, Casula, Australia
55th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany
All that is Solid, City Vision Festival, Mechelen, Belgium
2008
Cut: Makings of Removal, Vincent Price Art Museum, CA
Wonder, Singapore Biennale 2008, Singapore
The Tropics, Martin Groupius Bau, Berlin, Germany
Re- Imagining Asia, House of the World Culture, Berlin, Germany
Stretching the Truth, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
The Lining of Forgetting, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2007
TransPop, Arko Art Center, Seoul, Korea; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
The Thermocline of Art- New Asian Waves, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
2006
Altered, Stitched, and Gathered, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY
Liberation, Saigon Open City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Another Asia, Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Gwangju Biennale, Jungoei Park, Gwangju City, South Korea
Singapore Biennale 2006, Singapore
Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland, Australia
Infinite Painting- Contemporary Painting and Global Realism, curated by Francesco Bonami and Sarah Cosulich Canarutto, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Codroipo, Italy
2005
Image War: Contesting Images of Political Conflict, Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program Exhibition, The Art Gallery of The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY
Permanent Vestiges: Drawings from the American-Vietnam War, Drawing Center, New York, NY
Stages of Memory: The Vietnam War, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
Collection Remixed, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
2004
21, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
YOUgenics, The School of Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Off the Wall, Bruce Museum, CT
2003
Red, Yellow and Blue, The Goethe Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam
Dreams and Conflicts: The Dictatorship of the Viewer, Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Home/land: Artists, Immigration and Identity, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Commodification of Buddhism, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Only Skin Deep, International Center for Photography, New York, NY
2002
Sugar and Cream, Triple Canopy, New York, NY
Crisis Response, RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI
Corpus Christi: Photographic Representations of Christ 1855 - 2002, Paris, France and Jerusalem, Israel
2001
Diabolical Beauty, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, CA
The Red Lotus: A Rare Look into the Work of Seven Contemporary Vietnamese-American Artists, City Gallery Chastain, Atlanta, GA
We Are Named, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
Alterations, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY
Made in California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Indochina: The Art of War, Luckman Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA
2000
Beyond Boundaries: Contemporary Photography in California, California University Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
Shifting Perceptions: Contemporary LA Visions, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA
Of the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
California Invitational, Ansel Adams Center for Photography, San Francisco, CA
You Can’t Go Home Again: The Art of Exile, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
ID/Y2K: Identity at the Millennium, curated by Susan M. Canning Castle Gallery, New Rochelle, NY
The Changing Face of Portraiture, Chapman University, Orange, CA
1999
Pattern, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY
Slow Release: The Rich Mix Exhibition, Bishopsgate, Goodyard, London, England
The Emerging Image: Selected Contemporary Photography, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
You Can’t Go Home Again: The Art of Exile, curated by Amy I. Schlegel, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, VT
1998
Bioethics: Thresholds of Corporal Completeness, Side Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA
Histories (Re)membered, PaineWeber Art Gallery, New York, NY
Fabrications: U.S. Photography, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon; Vrais Reves Gallery, Contemporary Photography, Lyons, France; L’Hotel Du Musee, Arles, France; La Galerie 36, Paris, France; L’Espace Pereisc, Toulon, France; Musee de L’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland; Musee de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium
Uncommon Traits III, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY
1997
Points of Entry, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY; Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA; Eastman International Museum of Photography, Rochester, NY; The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1996
Chambers of Enchantment, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art CEPA, Buffalo, NY
A Labor of Love, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
The Present (H)Our: Artists Utilizing Issues of Identity, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Pushing Image Paradigms: Conceptual Maneuvers in Recent Photography, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
1995
Picturing Asia America: Communities, Culture, Difference, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA; Hunt Gallery, Webster University, St. Louis, MO
Welcome to Asia America: Visualizing A New World, Cambridge Multicultural Art Center, MA
Tracing Cultures, The Friends of Photography, Ansel Adams Center, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
Identity Crisis, Cambridge Multicultural Art Center, MA
1994
Beyond the Borders, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Picturing Asia America: Communities, Cultures, Difference, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
Barbie and Beyond, Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Retrospective: Awards in the Visual Arts, Ro Snell Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA; Elverhoy Museum, Solvang, CA; Betteravia Gallery, Santa Maria, CA
Asian-Americans in the Arts, Tweed Gallery, New York, NY
Four Photographers, SFMOMA Rental Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The DuPont Fellowship, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
Rituals: Society Identity/A View from Within, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY
1993
Reflections for Peace, Mexican-Arte Museum, Austin, TX
Three: Works by ‘92-’93 Artists in Residence, Elaine Tin Nyo, Alexander Ku, and Dinh Lê, Asian-American Arts Centre, New York, NY
Interior Dialogues, Montage 1993, Rochester, NY
We Count, Tweed Gallery, New York, NY
1992
Here and Now, Now and Then, Longwood Arts Gallery, Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx, NY
International Textile Exhibition, Kyoto Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
Revealing the Self: Portraits by Twelve Contemporary Artists, Paine Webber Gallery, New York, NY
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Visual Art Gallery, New York, NY
1991
Combinations: Dinh Lê and Martina Lopez, The Friends of Photography, Ansel Adams Center, San Francisco, CA
Articulated Disparities: Renegotiating Masculinity, Gallery 1, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
Director’s Choice: Joanne Hammer, Dinh Lê, Kendall Shaw, and Athena Tacha, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, NY
Warp and Woof: Comfort and Dissent, Artists Space, New York, NY
1990
County of Santa Barbara Art Commission, Individual Artist Award Winners, Channing Peake Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
The Definitive American Contemporary Quilt, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, NY
Photo Metro #8, Vision Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Honors and Awards
2013
Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Residency Award
2010
Visual Art Laureate, Prince Claus Fund, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2009
International Project Grant, Art Matters, New York, NY
Artist in Residence, Tokyo Wonder Site Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan
2000
Light Work Artist in Residence Program, Syracuse, NY
1998
Public Project Grant, The Gunk Foundation
1994
National Endowment for the Arts, Fellowship in Photography
The Du Pont Fellowship, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
1993
Travel Pilot Grant, Arts International and the National Endowment for the Arts
1992
Artist in Residence, Asian-American Arts Centre, New York, NY
Individual Fellowship, Art Matters Inc., New York, NY
Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, Aaron Siskind Foundation
Matching Grant, Professional Imaging, Eastman Kodak Company
Polaroid 20” x 24” Grant, Polaroid Corporation
Public Art Project Grant, Creative Time, New York, NY
1990
Full Tuition Scholarship, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Individual Artist Award, County of Santa Barbara Art Commission, Santa Barbara, CA
Photo Metro Fine Art Award, San Francisco, CA
1989
Juror’s Award, Santa Barbara Art Association, Santa Barbara, CA
University Art Affiliate Award, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Public Projects
1998
Damaged Gene, sponsored by the Gunk Foundation, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
1995
Biography Memorial, organized by the Bronx Council on the Arts, Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY
Collaboration (with the Montefiore Family Health Center and local children), organized by the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Montefiore Family Health Center, Bronx, NY
1992
Accountability? Creative Time, citywide poster/postcard project, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
1991
Race, Gender and Sexuality, poster project organized by Painted Bride Gallery, PA
Collections
Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Asia Society, New York, NY
Asia Society Texas, Houston, TX
The Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
The Ford Foundation, New York, NY
The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
General Mills
Goldman Sachs & Co.
The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
JP Morgan Chase
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Norton Family Foundation, Louisville, KY
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, South Brisbane, Australia
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
UC Santa Barbara Art Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
Tate, London, UK
Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK
Select Bibliography
2023
Weiss, Ph.D., Francine, and Megan Horn. Social Fabric: Textiles & Contemporary Issues H. Hollis Publishing, 2023.
2022
Barthe, Christine, et al. “Hors-Série: Dinh Q. Lê.” Gradhiva, Apr. 2022.
Rozell, Mary, editor. Reimagining: New Perspectives, Monacelli, New York, NY, 2022, p. 106.
2019
Lê, Dinh Q., et al. Dinh Q. LÊ: True Journey Is Return. Edited by Rory Padeken, San José Museum of Art, 2019.
2017
den Hartog Jager, Hans. “Ergens tussen de vogelstront gloort de schoonheid,” NRC. November 27, 2017.
Li, Vivian. “Sunshower: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now,” The Brooklyn Rail. November 2, 2013.
Ollman, Leah. “Dinh Q. Lê at Shoshana Wayne Gallery: Unspooling the Horrors of Vietnam,” The Los Angeles Times. October 21, 2017.
Zellen, Jody. “Editorial: Features – Dinh Q. Lê,” Visual Art Source. October 21, 2017.
Cotter, Holland. “Vietnam, Up Close and Personal,” The New York Times. October 19, 2017.
Farago, Jason. “Southeast Asia Stakes Its Claim in the Art World,” The New York Times. September 27, 2017.
Hirsch, Robert. “Seizing the Light: A Social & Aesthetic History of Photography,” New York: Taylor & Francis.
2016
Meurer, Joyce. “Art At Work,” The JP Morgan Chase Art Collection. New York JP Morgan Chase & Co.
“Bird dung a metaphor for resource envy and greed at the Void,” Londonderry Sentinel, May 11, 2016.
Dama, Francesco. “Visually Mining the History of Guano Off the Coast of Peru,” Hyperallergic, March 28, 2016.
“Dinh Q. Lê: The Colony at Site Gallery,” Anti-Utopias, September 3, 2016.
Helmke, Juliet. “Christoph Wiesner on Paris Photo 2016,” Artinfo, November 8, 2016.
Mai, C.A. Xuan. “The Colony: Vietnamese artist Dinh Q. Lê at Artangel, London,” Art Radar, September 21, 2016.
“Photography under all its avatars in Paris photo,” Le Point Culture, November 10, 2016.
Searle, Adrian. “Dinh Q. Lê: The Colony Review – a messy meditation on the Pacific guano trade,” The Guardian, February 2, 2016.
Schultz, Abby. “Welcome to the Brave New World of Media Art,” Barron’s, June 30, 2016.
Young, Graham. “Ikon Gallery launches exhibition about bird poop,” Birmingham Mail, January 28, 2016.
“The Colony by Dinh Q. Lê in London,” Fundació Han Nefkens, September 23, 2016.
Trujillo, Natalie. “Paris Photo: the countdown begins,” Le Monde de la Photo, November 10, 2016.
“Why photography is buoyant – and the artists on the rise,” Christie’s, November 10, 2016.
2015
Natsumi, Araki, et al., editors. Dinh Q. Lê: Memory for Tomorrow. Mori Art Museum, 2015.
2014
Levia, Kim. “Reviews: New York – Dinh Q. Lê,” ArtNEWS, 2014.
Adams, Rachel. “Review: Dinh Q. Lê at Rice University Art Gallery,” Modern Painters, September 2014.
Rao, Mallika. “The Life of The World Trade Center, In Four Powerful Images,” The Huffington Post, June 3, 2014.
Young, Allison. “Review: Dinh Q. Lê,” Artforum, May 2014.
Heinrich, Will. “’Dinh Q. Lê: Warp, Woof, Zero, One’ at P.P.O.W,” NY Observer Gallerist, May 7, 2014.
Glentzer, Molly. “Narrative of Vietnam finds voice in photos,” Houston Chronicle, April 18, 2014.
2013
Smith, Roberta. “Global Extravaganza, but on a Human Scale: The Carnegie International Keeps its Survey Small.“ The New York Times, October 10, 2013.
Butt, Zoe. “Dinh Q. Lê in conversation with Zoe Butt,” Guggenheim Blog, January 22, 2013.
Luong, Ruben. “Where I Work: Dinh Q. Lê,” Art Asia Pacific.
2012
Vary, Renee. “Burden of Proof: National Identity and the Legacy of War,” Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, August 22, 2012.
Tucker, Anne Wilkes, Will Michels, and Natalie Zelt. “WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Yale University Press, New Haven: 2012. (reproduction p. 546).
The Book of Books, Catalog 1-3, Hatje Cantz.
Ollman, Leah. Critic’s Choice, “Review: Dinh Q. Lê’s woven imagery connects cultures,” Los Angeles Times: Art and Culture, June 21, 2012.
Buckley, Annie. “Dinh Q. Lê,” Artforum, June 6, 2012.
2011
Adams, Bruce. “Artist Dinh Q. Lê responds to a city in transition,” Buffalo Spree, December 2011.
Dabkowski, Colin. “Quick Change: Artist captures the rapid rebirth of Ho Chi Minh City,” The Buffalo News, September 16, 2011.
Harvey, Nicola. “Dinh Q. Lê,” Frieze Magazine, September 9, 2011.
Larking, Matthew. “Conceptualizing old Ideas into ‘New’ Art”, The Japan Times, April 1, 2011.
Landi, Ann. “History in the Making,” ARTnews, April 2011.
2010
Cotter, Holland. “Vietnamese Voices Against a Whir of War,” The New York Times, August 12, 2010, Weekend Arts, pg. 21, 24.
“Goings On About Town: Projects 93: Dinh Q. Lê,” The New Yorker, August 2, 2010.
Allen, Emma. “Helicopters from Vietnam: A Q&A with Dinh Q. Lê,” Artinfo.com, June 29.
Mizota, Sharon. “Culture Monster Art Review: ‘Stitches’ at Armory Center for the Arts,” Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2010.
LaBelle, Charles. “4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale,” Artforum, January 2010.
Truong, Hong-An. “Dinh Q. Lê at P.P.O.W,” IDIOM, February 16, 2010.
Frieze, Issue 132, June/July/August 2010. p. 40.
Dougherty, Linda J. “Dinh Q. Lê,” North Caroline Muesum of Art” Handbook of the Collections. 2010. p. 592-593.
Bovee, Katherine. “Dinh Q. Lê,” Art Papers, p. 61.
“Transparency,” April 2010. p. 8.
Artforum. XLVIII, No.10. Summer 2010. Advert.
2009
Billah, Fariyal. “Paper Cutting Takes a Lead Role in CUT: Makings of Removal Exhibition,” The Breeze, October 2009.
McQuaid, Cate. “Weaving Together His Vietnam,” The Boston Globe, March 4, 2009.
Snyder, Stephanie. “Dinh Q. Lê,” Artforum, May 27, 2009.
Tinari, Philip. "2008 Gwangju Biennale, Singapore Biennale 2008, 3rd Yokohama Triennale," Artforum, January 2009.
2008
Knight, Christopher. “Dinh Q. Lê at Shoshana Wayne Gallery,” LA Times, October 3, 2003.
The Lining of Forgetting: Internal & External Memory in Art. Catalogue for Weatherspoon Art Museum. February 2008. pg. 40 – 43.
Cheng, Scarlet. “Pacific Overtures,” Art Ltd. Sept/Oct 2008.
“Dinh Q. Lê,” The New Yorker, Galleries – Chelsea Review, May 26, 2008.
Wolff, Rachel. “Dinh. Q. Lê: P·P·O·W,“ ARTnews. Summer 2008.
2007
Tran, Thanh. “Weaving Memories,” Northwest Asian Weekly, October 6, 2007.
Vinh, Tan. “Vietnamese artworks offer a personal view-and way to view- the war,” The Seattle Times. October 5, 2007.
Scheinman, Pamela. “Altered, Stitched, and Gathered,” Fiberarts. April/May 2007. p. 52-53.
Baker, Kenneth. “A look back at the Vietnam War gives artists no peace,” San Francisco ate, February 28, 2007.
Dougherty, Linda. “New Contemporary Acquisition Explores Conflicting Memories of Vietnam War,” Preview. January/February 2007. p.8-9.
Grundberg, Andy. “Dateline: Israel: New Photography and Video Art,” Yale University Press, 2007. pg. 3.
2006
Fever Variations. Catalogue for Gwangju Biennale 2006. p. 48-49.
Fyfe, Joe. “Dinh Q. Lê at the Asia Society and PPOW,” Art in America. May 2006. p.194.
Sand, Olivia. “Dinh Q. Lê,” Asian Art News. March 2006. p. 2-5.
2005
“The Human Touch: Selections from the RBC Rauscher Art Collection,” RBC Dain Rauscher, 2005.
Camhi, Leslie. “After the Fall,” The Village Voice, December 9, 2005.
Schwendener, Martha. “Persistent Vestiges: Drawing from the American-Vietnam War,” TimeOut New York. Issue 531. December 1-7, 2005.
Vietnam: Destination for the New Millennium, The Art of Dinh Q. Lê. Asia Society, 2005.
Cotter, Holland. “Two Sides’ Viewpoints on the War in Vietnam,” The New York Times, December 9, 2005.
Searle, Adrian. “Holidays in Hell,” The Guardian, October 11, 2004.
Johnson, Ken. “Images of Vietnamese in the Generation Since the War,” The New York Times, October 7, 2005.
Aletti, Vince. Review, The New Yorker, October 3, 2005. Critic’s Notebook.
Chang, Alexandra. “Home vs. Global Society,” amNew York, September 30-October 2, 2005.
Wilson, Michael. Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the ‘Tourist’s Eye, Artforum, p 69.
2004
Aletti, Vince. Review, The Village Voice, April 14 – 20, 2004.
Voices Choices Review, The New Yorker, April 12, 2004. p. 15.
2003
Dinh Q. Lê: From Vietnam to Hollywood. Marquand Books, 2003.
Spalding, David. “Weaving History: An Interview with Dinh Q. Le,” Art AsiaPacific. no. 38. p. 68-70. Dreams and Conflicts: The Dictatorship of the Viewer, catalogue for the Biennale di Venezia, 2003.
Fresh Talk, Daring Gazes: Conversations on Asian American Art, University of California Press, 2003.
Art Journal, Spring issue, pg. 76-79 (reproductions of “The Texture of Memory” series).
2002
Riding, Alan. “A Show that Looks at Religion Through a Camera’s Lens,” The New York Times, November 13, 2002. p. B1-2.
Evans, Susan E. “We Are Named” Photography Quarterly (#83), Center for Photography at Woodstock, p. 4-8 (essay, reproduction of Untitled 1998).
Hesse, Gary. “Let Us Build a City and Make for Ourselves a Name,” Photography Quarterly (#83), Center for Photography at Woodstock, p. 9 – 12.
2001
“The Light Work Annual 2001,” Contact Sheet Number 112, Light Work, Syracuse NY.
Catalogue: “The Red Lotus,” Gallery Chastain, Atlanta GA, 2001.
“New Exhibits Featured at Center for Photography at Woodstock,” Antiques and The Arts Weekly, November 2, 2001.
“Critical Thinking,” Woodstock Times, Dec 6, 2001.
McGee, Cecelia. “Art Smart,” Daily News, June 2, 2001. p. 23.
Aletti, Vince. Review, Village Voice, June 5, 2001.
Roth, Moira. “Dinh Q. Lê, The Vietnam War, Photography, and Memory,” Art Journal, Vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 10-25.
Catalogue, “Indochina: The Art of War”, Luckman Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
Pagel, David. “Indochina: The ‘Art of War’ Exhibition Misfires”, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2001. p. F4.
Bonetti, David. “Trendy Currents at SFMOMA”, San Francisco Examiner, July 7, 2001. p. C14.
Ohmann, Leah. Review (Shoshana Wayne Gallery), Art in America, February 2001.
Pagel, David. “Identity-based Work Looks Dated in ‘Shifting Perceptions’,” Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2001.
1999
Ise, Claudine. “Pieces of History” review, The Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1999. p. F25.
Johnson, Ken. “Pattern at James Graham & Sons,” The New York Times, July 17, 1999.
Miller, Keith. “Dinh Q. Lê: Splendor and Darkness,” Art Papers, March/April. p. 52.
Smith, Robert F. “You Can’t Go Home Again: Art in Exile,” Brattleboro Museum, Art New England, October/November, p. 46.
Svetvilas, Chanika. “The Art of War,” Dialogue, Spring/Summer, pp. 23-28.
Schwabsky, Barry. Review, Artforum, February 1999. p. 98-99.
1998
Aletti, Vince. “Voice Choice,” The Village Voice, December 8, 1998.
Ise, Claudine. “‘Headless Buddha’ Weaves History, Myth,” Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1998.
Johnson, Ken. “Dinh Q. Lê,” The New York Times, December 11, 1998.
Ehmke, Ronald. “Neither This nor That,” Afterimage, July/August.
Row, D.K. “Conflicting Cultures, Selves,” The Oregonian, April 3, 1998.
Miles, Christopher. “Dinh Q. Lê at the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies,” Artweek, April 1998.
Chattopadhyay, Collette. “Dinh Q. Lê at the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies,” Asian Art News, March/April.
1996
Edmunds, Kristy. “Pushing Image Paradigms: Conceptual Maneuvers in Recent Photography,” catalog, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR.
Tucker, Marcia. “A Labor of Love,” catalog, The New Museum of Contemporary Art.
1995
Grundberg, Andy. “Rebecca Solnit, and Ronald Takaki. “Tracing Cultures,” catalog, The Friends of Photography, San Francisco, CA.
1994
McQuaid, Cate. “For Christ’s Sake,” Boston Phoenix, March 3, 1994.
Silver, Joanne. “East and West Woven into Art,” Boston Herald, February 16, 1994.
1992
Atkins, Robert. “Scene and Heard,” The Village Voice, December 8, 1992.
Glenn, Jeff. “Integrating Image and Structure,” Fiber Arts, Vol. 18, No. 5, March 1992.
Lipson, Karen. “An Angry Voice from Vietnam,” New York Newsday, December 8, 1992.
Kano, Kouichi. “3rd International Textile Competition, Kyoto,” catalog, Kyoto Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan.
1991
Aletti, Vince. “Playing God,” The Village Voice, April 23, 1991.
Kelley, Jeff. “Weavings of Time and Memory,” Artweek, April 18, 1991.
Avery, Virginia and Moira Roth. “The Definitive Contemporary American Quilt,” catalog, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, NY.
Butler, Connie. “Warp and Woof: Comfort and Dissent,” catalog, Artists Space, NY.
Hoffman, Monika. “Independent Visions,” The Independent, February 14, 1991.
Wright, David H. “They don’t let reality f-stop them,” The Daily Californian, April 26, 1991.
Heimerdinger, Debra. “Combinations,” re view, Newsletter of the Friends of Photography, March/April.
Medlin, Kayoko. “News from California,” Asahi Camera, Tokyo, Japan, February 1990.
1990
Aletti, Vince. “Choice Column,” The Village Voice, May 22, 1990.
Slesin, Suzanne. “Quilts That Warm in New Ways,” New York Times, December 6, 1990.
Spencer, Russ. “Visions from the Independents,” Santa Barbara Newspress, November 1990.