Minh Lan Tran was born in Hong Kong in 1997 into a family of French-Vietnamese descent. She studied Art History in Paris and at the University of Oxford, then gaining an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art and another in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2023. Based in London, her multidisciplinary practice spans painting, writing, and performance, exploring themes of language, movement, and materiality.
Multidisciplinary artist Minh Lan Tran was born in Hong Kong in 1997 into a family of French-Vietnamese descent. She studied Art History at the École du Louvre in Paris and the University of Oxford, later earning an MA in Byzantine studies and visual theology from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London in 2020. She subsequently completed an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2023. This combination of intellectual depth and creative training informs her multifaceted practice, which prioritises process and materiality as tools of inquiry and expression.
Based in London, her practice encompasses painting, writing, and performance. Tran’s artistic approach explores the interplay and resistance between language, movement, and matter, with a particular emphasis on embodiment over representation. Beginning with calligraphy, writing forms the foundation of her process, which she transforms into fluid compositions through principles of choreography. By carefully distributing intensities across her works, Tran creates pieces that channel the dynamism of physicality, merging diverse traditions and histories with themes of social unrest and spiritual-political protest. Her art often draws upon spiritual and philosophical traditions, such as Pseudo-Dionysian concepts of light, Taoist notions of absence and presence, and the history of Buddhist self-immolation, a practice she interprets as a profound act of protest and transformation. Tran’s work is also deeply rooted in materiality and transformation. She incorporates materials such as pigments, rice paper, and textiles, treating them as if they were skin—scratched, healed, and inscribed with meaning. Ashes, veils, and gestures of concealment and revelation are recurring motifs, reflecting themes of renewal and resistance. Her performances, meanwhile, activate the relationship between language and movement through choreographed gestures, inscribing physicality into her creative process.
Tran’s art has been widely exhibited. In London, she presented the solo exhibition Heat Generation at Harlesden High Street (2023), featuring installations of paintings and writings alongside live performances during London Gallery Weekend; it was also reprised at Sadie Coles HQ in 2023 as part of Frieze. At Nicoletti Contemporary, she participated in the duo exhibition Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond (2022), where she explored themes of materiality and physicality through painting, drawing, and sculpture. She also participated in the group exhibition No Place Like Home (A Vietnamese Exhibition) Part II at the Museum of the Home in 2023, where her performance Heat Generation (prayer) was featured.
Her works have also appeared internationally, at Art Basel in Basel, High Art in Seoul, François Ghebaly in Los Angeles, and Balice Hertling in Paris. In December 2023, Tran participated in the group exhibition Traces at Galerie Guido W. Baudach in Berlin, alongside Tamina Amadyar and Hinako Miyabayashi. Her work United in Grief 2 was created in response to the devastating earthquake in Morocco in September 2023, which she experienced herself. Using Moroccan pigments and paper, the painting served as both an artistic piece and a statement of solidarity with the bereaved families. This exhibition highlighted her ability to intertwine material exploration with emotional and political themes.
Tran’s solo exhibition at Jan Kaps in Cologne in 2023, Space of Resistance, showcased a series of paintings and a site-specific installation interrogating the linearity of language, the fragility of meaning, and the transformative potential of material. Her Paris debut, Communication Grounds, followed in early 2024, continuing her exploration of the boundaries between representation and embodiment. Tran’s paintings and performances encourage viewers to engage on emotional and physical levels. Experiences, moods, and sensations are inscribed in her works, inviting shared encounters. Often abstract and poetic, her narratives unfold in layers that reflect her intellectual and cultural heritage while remaining open to personal interpretation. Her work is not currently represented in UK public collections. Tran is represented by Jan Kaps, a gallery based in Cologne.
Irene Iacono
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Minh Lan Tran ]
Publications related to [Minh Lan Tran ] in the Ben Uri Library