Tuan Andrew Nguyen at The Campus

For the third annual exhibition at The Campus, James Cohan is pleased to announce a solo presentation by Tuan Andrew Nguyen. On view from June 27 through November 1, 2026, the 3rd Annual Exhibition at the former Ockawamick School brings together presentations from eight UK galleries—Thomas Dane Gallery, Emalin, Herald St & Gordon Robichaux, Hollybush Gardens, Lisson, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Modern Art, and Vigo Gallery—alongside artists represented by the six founding galleries: Bortolami, James Cohan, kaufmann repetto, Anton Kern, Andrew Kreps, and kurimanzutto.

 

Nguyen’s exhibition features A Luminous Echo, a new nine-foot carved sandstone Buddha sculpture with hands cast from reclaimed artillery shells sourced from unexploded ordnances (UXOs) recovered in Afghanistan. The brass hands are positioned into two mudras representing “fearlessness” and “compassion”, becoming symbols of healing and empathy. The work was created alongside Nguyen’s 2026 High Line Plinth commission, The Light That Shines Through the Universe, on view until Fall 2027.

 

The sculpture draws inspiration from the Bamiyan Buddhas, two monumental sixth-century sculptures carved into the cliffs of central Afghanistan that were destroyed in 2001 in an act of cultural destruction. With only vast empty niches remaining, the work reflects on cultural memory and loss and serves as a powerful reminder of the rich crossroads of civilizations shaped by Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and centuries of exchange along the Silk Road.

 

Presented alongside the sculpture is a series of hand-hammered playable brass singing bowls, each tuned in collaboration with a sound healer resonating at a precisely-calibrated healing frequency. The sculptures are reclaimed from UXO’s, recovered in Quang Tri, central Vietnam, the site of the most intensive aerial bombardment in recorded history. Working collaboratively with residents and demining organizations, Nguyen’s sculptural objects reflect this scarred landscape and unearth stories of resilience within communities overcoming trauma.

 

Like the Buddha’s cast hands, these vessels alchemize materials once associated with violence into instruments for reflection and restoration. He writes, “Concepts of reincarnation and karma, beyond their local and traditional cultural contexts, are like sonic resonance, connecting archives and alignments and solidarities across time and space. I have understood this as a process of transformation based on vibrations, a 'trembling.' The vibrations of metal trembling reflect a landscape trembling, a people trembling, even a world trembling. And this trembling is not of fear but of hope for regenerative change."