Trần Trọng Vũ was born and raised in Hanoi, graduated from Vietnam University of Fine Art and taught here from 1987 to 1989. He received a scholarship from the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1989). Since then, he has lived and worked between France and Vietnam.
His work often presents social observations and historical upheavals, interwoven with his personal and family stories. With very typical satirical styles, he wants viewers to be curious and skeptical about what they see by overturning common visual concepts and deceiving the eye with materials and sizes.
In 2011 - 2012, Trần Trọng Vũ was the first Vietnamese to be awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Prize by the Jackson Pollock - Lee Krasner Art Foundation in New York (USA). Some of his recent solo exhibitions include “Ces années-là” (2021) at the Halle des Chartrons, Bordeaux; “The Sonnet In Blue” (2017) at the National Gallery Singapore; “Les Mots Qui N'étaient Pas Dits” at the Fondation Dapper” (2014), l’îe de Gorée and “Blue Memory” (2004) at the The Arizona State University Art Museum, Arizona (USA). Vu's work is exhibited and appears in the collections of the National Museum of Singapore, the National Museum of Vietnam and prestigious private collections worldwide.