In Tribeca, NYC: Tuan Andrew Nguyen Turns Artillery Shells into Healing Objects at Norr Cohan

Norr Cohan opens a new exhibition by Tuan Andrew Nguyen on October 30, running through December 19 at its 48 and 52 Walker Street spaces in Tribeca. It is the artist's fourth solo show with the gallery and brings his film work together with his long-running practice of turning material remnants of war into objects of healing.

Visitors first walk into a suspended kinetic installation of mobiles that mimic a forest. Each is forged from reclaimed 57mm artillery shells from Quảng Trị province in central Vietnam and tuned to a resonant frequency, so the tones carry through the gallery.

A separate room holds Tiger Mountain (2026), a sculpture more than 3.5 meters high whose arches evoke the peaks of Quảng Trị, just south of the former DMZ. U.S. Marines used such peaks as outposts, but the forests were once home to tigers revered as Lord of the Forest. Three demined bomb casings, polished to a mirror finish, hang from the arches as bells tuned to 432 Hz, made with sound healers. A single bell hangs from Tiger Tooth (2026).

Fire Tops (2026), a wall-mounted tondo 240 centimeters across, is built from more than 3,000 small discs pounded from artillery casings. Nguyen accelerates oxidation and patina to draw out turquoise, umber and flashes of fluorescent orange.

At the center is the premiere of the film Sacred Forest / Rừng Thiêng (2026), shot in Đakrông and cast with members of the Bru-Vân Kiều community. It follows Khuyên, an eight-year-old whose parents risk their lives clearing unexploded bombs from the forest. A spirit in the form of the saola, the endangered "Asian unicorn," guides her through a dreamlike space between life and death. The score was performed on handmade traditional instruments by a Bru-Vân Kiều ensemble and recorded on location. A marble saola head with horns forged from brass ordnance, and a group of river stones, extend the film into the gallery.

The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.