Binh Pho

Binh Pho mixed media sculptor

Binh Pho

Binh Pho (1955 – 2017) was a critically acclaimed artist, known for an expansive approach to work in wood and glass that included painting and a unique exploration of positive and negative space. His works featured a highly personal iconography, with imagery that relates to Asian culture and the natural world. The story of his journey from an idyllic childhood in Vietnam to the rise of Communism and his escape to the United States was shared in the book River of Destiny: The Life and Work of Binh Pho, published in 2006 in conjunction with a retrospective of his work at the Long Beach Museum of Art. In 2013, Binh Pho collaborated with Kevin Wallace on the new project, Shadow of The Turning, which focused on art, philosophy and storytelling. An entirely fictional story, the book blended the mythic worlds of fairy tale, fantasy, romance and adventure, creating a bridge between literature, art world approaches to concept and narrative, and craft traditions. The story was illustrated using an exciting new body of work by Binh Pho, which combined woodturning, sculpture, painting and art glass.

As Shadow of The Turning traveled across the country as an exhibition at major museums, Binh was interviewed for a PBS documentary, as part of the American Experience Series. Last Days in Vietnam, directed by Rory Kennedy, featured extensive interviews with Binh and was nominated for an Academy Award. Attending the awards ceremony with Kennedy and Stu Harrington, a US Army officer in charge of the evacuation of the Vietnamese Embassy during the Fall of Saigon, was truly an American Dream.

Binh Pho’s work is exhibited internationally and in the permanent collection of numerous museums including The White House Collection, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian of American Art, and Museum of Art and Design (NY).