Hoa Dung Clerget
Born in France, lives and works in London
Education
2019-2021 Royal College of Art - MA Painting
2016-2019 Central Saint Martins School, London - BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree
Personal project
2019 [la galerie libre] - Founded a multi-faceted art agent with multiple identities: acting as an artist or artist collective, curator, and a mobile physical gallery.
Solo exhibition
2023 Durian Revolution, Studio Chapple, Deptford
2022 Flowers from Nowhere, 1B Window Gallery, Walthamstow
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Myths Dreams and New Realities with Bagri Foundation and Saatchi Gallery
2025 Désanchantée, Spiggia Libera, Marseille
2025 Fringe, Labs Gallery, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi, Bologna
2025 Only Your Name, SLQS, London
2025 Porous Abstraction, Alma Pearl Gallery, London
2024 Market of Desire, Punta Gallery and Cable Depot, Sofia
2024 Tươi Sống, Harlesden High Street, London
2024 Duo presentation at Artorama with Studio Chapple and Xxijrahii in Marseille (August)
2024 Loose Ends, group show at Thames side gallery, curated by Lily German
2024 A landscape of chance, group show at SLQS gallery (Mayfair, London) curated by Sarah Le Quang Sang.
2023 I Said Fruit Salad, group show at Hypha Studio curated by Sara Davis and Alexis Parinas (Dec)
2023 Beauty Tech Art Spa, group show at Cornershop curated by Jacob Barnes (Grove Collective) and Jonny Tanna (Harlesden High Street) (Nov-Dec)
2023 Positions, Alma Pearl, curated by John Slyce (April)
2023 Look Mum No Hands (part II), 9French, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi (April)
2023 1123, group exhibition for celebrating 900 years of St Bartholomew, curated by Elena Unger (April)
2023 No Place Like Home (part II), Museum of the Home, co curated by KV Duong and Hoa Dung Clerget (April)
2022 The Expanse in-between, group exhibition at Grove Collective (July)
2022 Un/sense curated by Kollektiv collective, Christie’s (July)
2022 A Paradise for the Smiling Alligators, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi in collaboration with Harlesden High Street
2022 Mothering at Kupfer Project (June)
2022 Memories of a Social Club that doesn’t exist, ZÉRUÌ
2022 No Place Like Home (A Vietnamese exhibition), curated by KV Duong and myself, Canning Gallery (May)
2022 Fertile Ground, SZN Gallery, London (April-June)
2022 Die Kunst des Vergessens, die Kunst des Erinnerns, curated by P. Hostalery, Gallery Brockstedt, Berlin (April-June)
2022 Flowers from Nowhere, solo at Window B1 Gallery, Walthamstow
2022 Interface, Lille Grand Palais, curated by Annuschka Leung
2021 Love Strata, Lychee One (December 2021), curated by myself
2021 Touch: the Politics of Physicality, Hackney Downs Studio, curated by Louis Chapple (November 2021)
2021 London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery (November 2021)
2021 Yield, No20 Arts London (November 2021)
2021 Grown Up, Holland Park church, curated by Sabrina Shah
2021 Deep Cut, Asylum Chapel, curated by Yi Toh, London
2019 Commonmaking in the framework of Salon of Conviviality, Lacuna Gallery, 2019 Salon of conviviality, White Room foundation, Moscow, Russia
2019 Window project, Gazelli Art House, London
2018 Surge, East Wing Biennale at Courtauld Institute of Art
2017 Expanded City curated by The Curations Society, London
2017 Blue at Josephine Clavel Gallery, London
Award/Grant
2022 Jerwood Art New Work Fund
2021 Finalist of Circa x Dazed Class of 2021
2021 Jerwood grant 1:1 Fund
Residency
2022 Palazzo Monti - Brescia (July)
Selected Press
2025 ‘Only Your Name’: On Loss and Longing for Vietnam, by Akin Oladimeji, Third text http://www.thirdtext.org/oladimeji-onlyyourname
2021 12 Future stars of the art world (…) 12th December, The Times
Born in France, lives and works in London
Education
2019-2021 Royal College of Art - MA Painting
2016-2019 Central Saint Martins School, London - BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree
Personal project
2019 [la galerie libre] - Founded a multi-faceted art agent with multiple identities: acting as an artist or artist collective, curator, and a mobile physical gallery.
Solo exhibition
2023 Durian Revolution, Studio Chapple, Deptford
2022 Flowers from Nowhere, 1B Window Gallery, Walthamstow
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Myths Dreams and New Realities with Bagri Foundation and Saatchi Gallery
2025 Désanchantée, Spiggia Libera, Marseille
2025 Fringe, Labs Gallery, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi, Bologna
2025 Only Your Name, SLQS, London
2025 Porous Abstraction, Alma Pearl Gallery, London
2024 Market of Desire, Punta Gallery and Cable Depot, Sofia
2024 Tươi Sống, Harlesden High Street, London
2024 Duo presentation at Artorama with Studio Chapple and Xxijrahii in Marseille (August)
2024 Loose Ends, group show at Thames side gallery, curated by Lily German
2024 A landscape of chance, group show at SLQS gallery (Mayfair, London) curated by Sarah Le Quang Sang.
2023 I Said Fruit Salad, group show at Hypha Studio curated by Sara Davis and Alexis Parinas (Dec)
2023 Beauty Tech Art Spa, group show at Cornershop curated by Jacob Barnes (Grove Collective) and Jonny Tanna (Harlesden High Street) (Nov-Dec)
2023 Positions, Alma Pearl, curated by John Slyce (April)
2023 Look Mum No Hands (part II), 9French, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi (April)
2023 1123, group exhibition for celebrating 900 years of St Bartholomew, curated by Elena Unger (April)
2023 No Place Like Home (part II), Museum of the Home, co curated by KV Duong and Hoa Dung Clerget (April)
2022 The Expanse in-between, group exhibition at Grove Collective (July)
2022 Un/sense curated by Kollektiv collective, Christie’s (July)
2022 A Paradise for the Smiling Alligators, curated by Marta Orsola Sironi in collaboration with Harlesden High Street
2022 Mothering at Kupfer Project (June)
2022 Memories of a Social Club that doesn’t exist, ZÉRUÌ
2022 No Place Like Home (A Vietnamese exhibition), curated by KV Duong and myself, Canning Gallery (May)
2022 Fertile Ground, SZN Gallery, London (April-June)
2022 Die Kunst des Vergessens, die Kunst des Erinnerns, curated by P. Hostalery, Gallery Brockstedt, Berlin (April-June)
2022 Flowers from Nowhere, solo at Window B1 Gallery, Walthamstow
2022 Interface, Lille Grand Palais, curated by Annuschka Leung
2021 Love Strata, Lychee One (December 2021), curated by myself
2021 Touch: the Politics of Physicality, Hackney Downs Studio, curated by Louis Chapple (November 2021)
2021 London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery (November 2021)
2021 Yield, No20 Arts London (November 2021)
2021 Grown Up, Holland Park church, curated by Sabrina Shah
2021 Deep Cut, Asylum Chapel, curated by Yi Toh, London
2019 Commonmaking in the framework of Salon of Conviviality, Lacuna Gallery, 2019 Salon of conviviality, White Room foundation, Moscow, Russia
2019 Window project, Gazelli Art House, London
2018 Surge, East Wing Biennale at Courtauld Institute of Art
2017 Expanded City curated by The Curations Society, London
2017 Blue at Josephine Clavel Gallery, London
Award/Grant
2022 Jerwood Art New Work Fund
2021 Finalist of Circa x Dazed Class of 2021
2021 Jerwood grant 1:1 Fund
Residency
2022 Palazzo Monti - Brescia (July)
Selected Press
2025 ‘Only Your Name’: On Loss and Longing for Vietnam, by Akin Oladimeji, Third text http://www.thirdtext.org/oladimeji-onlyyourname
2021 12 Future stars of the art world (…) 12th December, The Times
Statement
I create installations and objects that explore the labor and lives of immigrant women and the Nail Art subculture. My Vietnamese heritage and education in France have shaped my research about how immigrant women construct their identities and find their place in society, through their work. My practice reflects my own diasporic experience.
At the heart of my work is the ongoing process of identity construction. I draw on Homi Bhabha’s concept of the liminal space, an in-between where diasporic identity is constructed through hybridisation, through the refusal of fixed categories and through the subversion of imposed norms. I see this constant negotiation in the lives of immigrant women, whether in domestic or professional spaces. They must navigate their identities while confronting external perceptions, clichés, and even exoticisation. My work seeks to make visible this tension between rooting and displacement, between heritage and reinvention.
The materials and objects that I integrate into my work come directly from the everyday lives of Vietnamese families: brooms, plastic stools, durian, folk songs…seemingly mundane elements that carry deep cultural significance, passed down through generations. By repurposing these objects, I challenge their meaning and status, using art as a tool to reverse situations. On one hand, I seek to offer visibility to an often marginalised community; on another, I blur the boundaries between art and subculture. Transforming an ordinary object into an artwork gives it a new value, allowing a reflection on cultural and artistic hierarchies.
I use nail gel polish as my main medium. Exploring innovative Nail Art techniques, I leverage the unique properties of these chemical materials to craft multi-layered works. These layers of varnish metaphorically represent the multiple stories of Vietnamese immigrants, thus forming a living narrative web. Beyond its traditional associations with popular aesthetics, I make it a true painting medium, thus questioning its status in the field of contemporary art. Its versatility is essential in my work: like oil painting, it can be reworked over time, and, like acrylic, it dries instantly with polymerisation. This technical duality allows me to explore new forms of expression while questioning the hierarchies established between artistic materials.
I create installations and objects that explore the labor and lives of immigrant women and the Nail Art subculture. My Vietnamese heritage and education in France have shaped my research about how immigrant women construct their identities and find their place in society, through their work. My practice reflects my own diasporic experience.
At the heart of my work is the ongoing process of identity construction. I draw on Homi Bhabha’s concept of the liminal space, an in-between where diasporic identity is constructed through hybridisation, through the refusal of fixed categories and through the subversion of imposed norms. I see this constant negotiation in the lives of immigrant women, whether in domestic or professional spaces. They must navigate their identities while confronting external perceptions, clichés, and even exoticisation. My work seeks to make visible this tension between rooting and displacement, between heritage and reinvention.
The materials and objects that I integrate into my work come directly from the everyday lives of Vietnamese families: brooms, plastic stools, durian, folk songs…seemingly mundane elements that carry deep cultural significance, passed down through generations. By repurposing these objects, I challenge their meaning and status, using art as a tool to reverse situations. On one hand, I seek to offer visibility to an often marginalised community; on another, I blur the boundaries between art and subculture. Transforming an ordinary object into an artwork gives it a new value, allowing a reflection on cultural and artistic hierarchies.
I use nail gel polish as my main medium. Exploring innovative Nail Art techniques, I leverage the unique properties of these chemical materials to craft multi-layered works. These layers of varnish metaphorically represent the multiple stories of Vietnamese immigrants, thus forming a living narrative web. Beyond its traditional associations with popular aesthetics, I make it a true painting medium, thus questioning its status in the field of contemporary art. Its versatility is essential in my work: like oil painting, it can be reworked over time, and, like acrylic, it dries instantly with polymerisation. This technical duality allows me to explore new forms of expression while questioning the hierarchies established between artistic materials.