Most people wind down after 70. Nguyễn Lộc picked up a paintbrush. The HCM City-based artist, who only began painting past that age, is now showing 70 works at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum in a show called "Từ Biển Sâu – Into the Ocean", on until October 25.
The exhibition is built as a journey in five chapters: "The Return", "Genesis", "The Sea and Its Scenery", "The Journey Beneath" and "Reminiscences". Together they move from the sea's surface down into its darker depths — and along the way they also confront the damage done by waste, climate change and environmental disruption. Lộc's connection to the sea grew from time spent in Cần Giờ, the coastal district at the mouth of the Saigon River, where he observed the water daily.
His paintings lean on vivid and dark tones to capture how light, sound and marine life shift through the sea's layers. Works like "Into the Ocean 4 – River Meets Sea" and "Bright Zone 2 – Foam of Life" show his take that even in the deepest, quietest parts of the ocean there is still light and sound somewhere. A piece titled "Awaken 2" addresses environmental damage directly, though Lộc deliberately pairs the damage with the sea's beauty rather than lecturing viewers — the point, he says, is to leave them asking whether we have truly understood and protected what the ocean gives us.
Born in Hưng Yên Province, Lộc is a late starter whose story is as much a part of the show as the canvases. His message: it is never too late to begin if you are willing to learn.
For travellers in Saigon this autumn, the exhibition is a good excuse to visit a museum many visitors skip, in a fine colonial-era building in District 1. Combine it with a day trip to Cần Giờ to see the mangrove coastline that inspired the paintings — a side of Ho Chi Minh City most tourists never reach. And if the ocean theme hooks you, Vietnam's coast, from Nha Trang to Phu Quoc, is a short flight away.
