Bruce Blanshard

BRUCE BLANSHARD AWARD-WINNING EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR. BEST-SELLING AUTHOR.TRAVEL WRITER. TAOIST PAINTER. Blanshard, was one foreign artist well-repected and granted extended time to paint freely in a studio at the Communist Socialist University, solo, without interruption or censor.

BLANSHARD'S FEATURED ART BOOK THIS MONTH IS 'Naked Hanoi': Collected Studio Works. Contemporary Oriental Nude Figurative Paintings On Paper ( Brush and Ink). 'Naked Hanoi' features a selection of Blanshard's figurative work painted at the artist's studio space at the University of Fine Arts in Hanoi, Vietnam. A collection of uncensored creative figurative works painted during studio sessions. Each painting features Vietnamese figurative models from the Fine Arts University. It is important to note that the scale of the works cannot be measured inside the pages of this book, as the works are often larger than life. The large figurative works are painted black on white with a thick brush of natural material and ink made by traditional methods and imported from a small village in the mountains of China.

On asking why black on white, Blanshard said, “Black holds the mysteries of life and white reveals.” It’s this idea of mystery and revelation that’s central to his artistic approach in the Ha Noi series. When he paints, it’s an active but silent meditative art. “When my mind is still, I find the work has greater honesty.” “The act of painting must be about honesty. And honesty is only revealed by the intuitive act. So I paint”. All these selected studio works are testament to the great creative talent of this dedicated artist." All the paintings for the last 10 years have been in black and white. Now I don't make color choices. Today's global society with it's preoccupation for cognitive analysis, motivated by commercial, reward is loosing the intrinsic human quality of intuition. The more intuition we loose the greater the loss of life. Extinction is an internal and externally linked reality.'

Blanshard spent over seven years painting in his two studios. One at The Hanoi University Of Fine Arts. Ha Noi, Vietnam and the other in an French Villa in the famed French Quarter at Da Tuong Street. 'Naked Hanoi' uncovers the women of Hanoi, metaphorically, physically, historically and symbolically through paintbrush and black ink.