Chien Ngo | Currently On Exhibit

"It is minimal yet very involved"
Ngo's works are predominantly rich repeated and embellished geometric arrangements. He used colors, cut up aluminum soda and beer cans that he collects, bought from recycle centers, and sometimes had to consume, to create his composition for durable vividness. Each bit of aluminum is like a stroke of paint or a miniature abstract in itself. The lines of the objects are literally razor sharp, masculine, strong and definite. His composition' surfaces have an oil or acrylic background. The objects have a shiny metallic appearance. His unusual signature (typically "C.NGO") is also cut and formed from the cans, revealing a ground of contrasting color. The whole collage collections are signed in this manner. The works are so lively, can be enjoyed in day time and glimmer at night light. It always leave the spectator in wonders and curious after looking at the art. The workmanship shows the patient and intense labor that the artist devoted into each and every composition.
Besides aesthetic expression, he wants to create art that is un-reproducible, by man or machine in present time or in the future. The intention is the further into the future the harder to duplicate.
Ngo was an artist consumed by an irrepressible urge to create.
He did experiment with pop art and various techniques but was not satisfied until he uses aluminum to create geometric abstraction, arranging bits of intense colors in irregular shapes. His works frequently consist of floating rectangles over a horizontal line across of luminous color collage on enormous wood panel that manage to simultaneously convey a deep minimal yet very complex involved sensuality and a profound spirituality.
Unlike many Abstract Expressionists, Ngo's collage compositions never relied on such dramatic techniques as violent brush strokes or the dripping and splattering of paint. Instead, his virtually gesture less paintings achieved their effects by large areas of solid background colors that seemingly float parallel to the picture plane in an indeterminate, atmospheric space. Ngo refine this basic style through continuous simplification.