Phai's paintings on the theatrical theme can be divided into two
main periods In
the first period (1958 - 1970) he lived and worked with the Cheo
Ensemble and
made hundreds of documentary visual records using gouache, pastel,
collage water
colours... Phai borrowed the images from the theatre to create art
using his own
processes. 15 years later, all of these records of the traditional
theatre
scenes that
he once experienced were condensed into complete works of stature In
those works
on the theme of "the Band" or "Before the Performance Commences" the
characters
occupied almost all of the canvas and were painted in a generalized
manner The
red and emerald green of the characters' outfits stood out on the
whitish and
bluish
background in a strong contrast, giving the impression of stage
lights The
artist did
not use black outlines to accentuate the figures, even the
borderlines between
these
figures and the space were blurred to give the paintings a
shimmering, ethereal
feel
The faces of the characters were marked only by their rouged cheeks
and although
they were not facing each other, it still seemed to the viewers that
they were
in the
midst of chatting and flirting.
Bui Xuan Phai's involvement with the stage came simply and naturally
Yet like
the
street paintings, Cheo was another of Phai's discoveries and he came
to
"monopolise-
the themes of "Ancient streets of Hanoi" and "Cheo".
From Phai's perspective, the actors were their own persons yet had
to always
play
other parts on stage. Similar to them, he, a true artist with many
artistic
aspirations
had at times to play a role in a non-artistic life.
In his series of self-portraits, there was a sole painting in which
Phai painted
himself
as a Cheo character. In the gauzy silk tunic and the traditional
turban gazing
at the
viewer, it seemed as if Phai was playing out a sad role in life. |
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