Mai T. T. Do‚ director of Mai´s Gallery‚ is an art lover. She has been involved in the arts for over ten years. In 1994‚ Mai began building her collection of art with the purchase of her first work by Vietnamese artist Nguyen Gia Tri‚ a drawing of a girl. Since that day Mai has continued to add to her collection‚ which now includes works by Nam Son‚ Tran Van Can‚ To Ngoc Van‚ Nguyen Tien Chung‚ Nguyen Sien‚ Bui Xuan Phai‚ Duong Bich Lien‚ Nguyen Sang‚ and Nguyen Tu Nghiem‚ among others.
During her first trip to New York in the summer of 2001‚ Mai became fascinated by the art life in New York. She was inspired by the thousands and thousands of galleries and artist studios in New York area‚ and decided‚ soon after her return‚ to open her own gallery in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and set up studios for artists.
Mai felt the artistic community in Vietnam could benefit from the exposure to works of art by international artists‚ and in the winter of 2001 Mai´s gallery hosted the first exhibition of contemporary art in HCMC‚ with paintings by Rodney Dickson. In the fall of 2003 Mai will open a New York gallery to afford New Yorkers the opportunity to interact with and be exposed to artworks by Vietnamese artists and international artists influenced by the culture of Vietnam.