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Today is March 8, 2021. My name is Ann Shi. And here we have with us is Mr. Huan Le. And we're very grateful

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for your presence, Mr. Le. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you! To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your arriving into Houston and settling

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here? So yeah, I'm part of the Vietnamese refugee immigration wave in the late 70s, early 80s. So we immigrated in 1980, and got to Houston in 1982.

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So I grew up mostly in Houston, in the suburb of Houston, in an area called Alief. And I went onto University of Southern California, and then came back, then went to law school in Austin; then came back, came and worked in East Texas a while before

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settling back down in Houston, in about 2000... 2003, I think. So 2003, I came back to Houston. So that's my history.

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And in terms of getting into the art scene, that's been more difficult because there's not like a manual out there to say how you're supposed to do it. And it's not... there's not a lot of stuff online,

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especially back then about local art scenes. It has a lot of international, a lot of national but... a lot of stylistic things, but, but not local per– per se. So it's been just a lot of

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kind of a shotgun approach, which is, go take a look at a lot of things and figure out what works for you and see if that works. Yeah, that's super interesting to hear. And I guess, can you take us a little bit back in that time and

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how the Houston art scene was back then? Unknown Speaker So the so Houston is a pretty— from what I can tell has— had a pretty good art scene for many, many years.

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Particularly like painting sculptures, and particularly paintings and things like that, it seems to have a pretty good network of folks who are doing doing that kind of work. But it's not necessarily coherent, it's not like a, you know,

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a style for Houston artists. So it's more that those Houston art– those artists happened to be in Houston. And they're involved more in a certain style, or certain kind of art that is more national or even International.

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Does that make sense? And then the other thing I found is that most Houston artist that I know and come to like, eventually go off somewhere else other than Houston, and they may or may not come back. And so that' been, a bit that kind

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of thing. Yeah, that's super interesting to hear. And given you have been kind of, like, I guess, exploring the art scene in US, what would you find different comparing to the other big cities like Chicago, New York, LA, and so on?

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l don't know if it's necessarily... You know, I'll say like, for example, if you're like talking about like, say, pop surrealism or something like that, then– then there are pockets where it's really popular, like LA or, you know,

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New York for graffiti or something like that. But other than those kind of epicenters, I'm not sure I would, I've encountered a lot of variants between one city and another per se, right.

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So because I, for example, I lived in Austin for a while. And I can't say there's an Austin style, for example, right? Describe Austin, probably the same way as Houston, in terms of people happen to live there.

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And that's where they influenced. Does that make sense? Definitely. And have you been to Marfa? And would you consider mafa has any influence on the

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tastes of Houston and Texas? Unknown Speaker I, you know, every year I think about going to Marfa. And then I plan my trip and look at all the things they have. And then I wind up not going.

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So like last year was supposed to be the big push, but then COVID happened. So I didn't get to go anywhere. But my, my... So, so many people I know are going to Marfa regularly

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or they bought a house there or some variation, variation of that. And I think that, you know, it's a mix of art and culture, because the art is embedded in the culture, right?

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The desert culture there seems? More to say desert culture, I don't mean desert culture. I just mean that the draw of Marfa is the location partly, right? Where it's out of out of the way

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from everything. And then the people come there. So that's, I would say it's probably a huge influence for a lot of people I know, some furniture dealers I know who collect art. They bought a place in Marfa a few years ago.

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And so they are continuously meeting people from around the country in Marfa, particularly in New York, and engaging with those people. And so they're bringing that back to Houston, from Marfa... New York art to Houston

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via Marfa sort of thing. Right. Super cool. Thank you for sharing that. And I guess for you, would you say that your main hat is business and

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philanthropist? Can you share with us how you started this journey with art? Unknown Speaker Oh, it's just personal, like, what do you like? So my first encounter where I thought, "oh, art is something that I

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should, or I want to learn more about," was in the late 90s, and early 2000s, Vietnamese art in Vietnam, started to gain some international prominence. And there were a series of art galleries that were just starting to be known

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internationally in Vietnam. And so when I was there, I happened to be in a few of those galleries. And that's when I, you know, I got really interested in art and, and things like that. Yeah. That's wonderful to hear.

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And can you tell us about how you started your collection? Unknown Speaker Oh, "collection" is a strong word, it's just a series of random pieces, it seems like. But typically online, really. So

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there are only a few pieces I have, where I didn't know that, that was something that I wanted to buy or see in person until I actually saw it. So like, this piece right here, was a door from Morocco.

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Right? And that's one of the few ones that when we stumbled upon it, then we got it. But most everything else I saw online and then track them down. Right.

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So for example, that's a good example, here, I have some Murakami prints, right? I didn't see Murakami in person. First, I saw his work online first, and then started hunting it down.

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And so I saw a few pieces in Paris. And then I saw a few pieces, you know, various other places before I picked up a few. Do you mostly source out for the art that you like and directly contact the art– the artists to...

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from their studio? Unknown Speaker Yes. So, so absolutely. I'd say more than half of the stuff I have is sort of in that category. So let's see here, you

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can see this piece here. This is a piece that was shown at the Asia Society. And the artist is Indian. And I found her first online with through a website called

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"NOTCOT". I don't know if you've seen that website. But there was this website called NOTCOT some years ago, and I saw her piece online and she wasn't— she had studied art, but she wasn't really producing art.

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And she didn't have a gallery and things like that. So I contacted her directly and built a friendship with her. And so now she's you know, in galleries and things like that.

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But that was just reaching out to her directly and saying, "I love your stuff, you know, can I see more?" kind of deal. Wow. So you're doing your own discovery. That's amazing.

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It... Yeah, it's nice to be able to engage with people to see what they're doing and how they're evolving. That's wonderful. And I guess, if you would consider yourself like kind of art enthu– enthusiasts and like an

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explorer, what would your mission statement be? Oh I have no idea. It seems that the reason would be to get what you like and hunt, hunt for all the stuff you like.

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I'm not sure there's a– it's a– it's a pretty selfish endeavor, if you really think about it, right? Because you're, if you're trying to purchase these pieces, it's pretty selfish. You know, you're putting in your house for yourself and

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you're kind of ignoring everybody else. So, so I'm not sure there's a... there's a public good from it, that deserves a mission. I mean.

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Well, that definitely is a contribution by supporting the artists to begin with. And I'm also curious what is your kind of most memorable encounter with an artist or a curator, or an exhibition you have visited?

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The Manjari , that piece I showed you is probably the most interesting. She, she wasn't producing pieces like that when I first encountered her. But it was most interesting because of how that evolved.

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So as I said, met her when she was just getting into that space before she got her first gallery, and got a few pieces; and then her art evolved.

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And it evolved towards something that Asia Society got interested in, which is what– how I got to know Bridget, it's actually through Manjari's piece right here. So that's how that evolved.

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So I like that one because of the evolution of the relationship where, you know, enjoyed her pieces very early, saw her career progress. Hopefully had a little hand in helping that.

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But that's probably the most, the most interesting. That's super cool. And I'm also wondering, what are your favorite pieces in the collection? Collection is a strong word!

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But ... collection is a strong word. I like you know, it goes through cycles, right? Where you like certain things more than others.

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But the piece I just showed you, I definitely love. It's, it's, it's really, you know, fantastic. Every time I look at it, I go, "Oh, wow. I'm so happy that's mine."

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Right? So I love that one. The Murakami. Like, yeah, I don't know why that one. But, you know, even though there's so many Murakami's; but for whatever reason, the one that I have...

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just really... every now that I look up and go, "Oh, wow!" That I you know, you walk towards it, and you admire it, and then you forget about it for a few weeks or months.

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And then you go, "Oh, wow!" That's a one... that's interesting like that. And then, I don't know, I collect a lot of prints and a lot of like, pop surrealism, and so it kind of rotates between pieces that I

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stumble across. So those are the big ones I guess, that keep coming up over and over. Yeah, that's great. And I'm wonder– wondering, like, during the process of acquisition of these

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art objects, and do you kind of start kind of creating more meanings for yourself and for the work? Or, I mean, just during the

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process, does the work that have more kind of impact on your life, like due to time? Um, so are you asking did the pieces have impact on me? Yeah. How do you interact with the the artwork?

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In terms of the different stages in your life, or the different mindset you're in? Do they kind of present...? Yeah, definitely, this is where the selfishness is, right?

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Because if you get to the point where you say, I want to own that piece; you're basically saying, I want to exclude this from others having more often than, you know. Because you know, when you buy that piece, you're not going to look at it every second

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of every day, or maybe even every day, and ponder it. Fantastic, right? It's got to be something that occurs occasionally. And so you're,

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you know, you're depriving the world essentially, of that piece for somebody else. So, so there's, like I said, there's some somewhat of a selfish journey that you have there. And for me, what, what more and more of my purchases

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have evolved into is trying to prevent regret. Right. So many years ago, I was in India, and we saw a, a wood relief that we thought was beautiful, and it came from a, you know, 500 year old temple or whatever it was in

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India. At that time, you can still export old relics from India. And we ultimately didn't buy it because it was inconvenient to buy, and it costs a lot of money and all that. And it's been, you know, 20 plus years later, and we

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still talk about that piece. Right. And so a lot of the, these purchases are about preventing regret at this point. Yeah, and that's a beautiful kind of picture I have in my mind that you and your wife are kind of sharing those

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moments in– with the art. I'm also wondering, so for the acquisition decisions do you make with your wife, Mrs. Lakshmanan? If... and she's very closely

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connected to, to Rice as I understood? Yes, with the Baker Institute. Yeah, yeah, which is amazing. It all closes the circuit here.

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So yeah, I'm just wondering like, in the— like, how does your relationship kind of interact with the work that you you acquire? Oh, really good. We fortunately have similar tastes in art so that's really

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good. And she, you know, you feed off of other people in terms of energy and things like that. And so I think without her, it'd be hard. If, you know, my

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partner didn't like art, it'd be harder to make these... you know, they're expensive decisions, and there's no practical value from them. Right? And if you're, if you're really buying art, I don't think you're really

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thinking about the resale value. At least we don't. Right. And so you're just kind of throwing money into the wind, and you're hoping that you get that enjoyment from it that you wanted, when

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you or you– you're having when you're going through that process. So I think you need somebody who can encourage and understand that, that and, you know. She's engaged with that she loves the pieces we have as well.

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Yeah, that's very interesting. And I'm also wondering, besides Asia Society, what other communities of art lovers or, like institutions or organizations that you're affiliated or kind of, are your point of contact for kind of engaging

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in an art community in Houston? There's not really many others, as I told you, because so many more interactions are one on one. I don't have a lot

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of good luck being engaged with organizations. Because, you know, a lot of it is there, they're specifying a style or thing like that. And, and so many of my things are, as I said, one on one, and it's just hard to stay involved with

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the organization for that reason. Yeah, totally understand. And if that's okay, we can kind of engage into the more kind of Asian art conversations. Yeah, like, how does art kind of inform you, or kind of reflect

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your Asian identity in part of– part of it? Oh, for sure. So I think I mentioned that the first time I thought I enjoyed art, to the point where I'd want to purchase it was Vietnamese art.

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And that was a, you know, Vietnamese. So there's a good connection there. But initially, it was about pride, right? So you know, growing up being Vietnamese, there's lots of things to be

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proud of. But you don't necessarily know that your, your culture has magnificently succeeded in one thing or another. And Vietnamese art was one of that first thing where you go, "Oh, you know, my culture produce this beautiful

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thing." Right. And so that was a– that was a really good thing. And I mean, tho– those artists at the time, were starting to spread their wings and be shown in, you know, Hong Kong and Singapore and

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Japan, and even Europe and things like that. And so it was, it was really gratifying as a Vietnamese person to see that, we were international and our stuff was world class, right?

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Because there aren't any, like Vietnamese car companies. Right. And there's not like a fortune 100 business guy, there's no like SpaceX based in Vietnam. Right? And so it was the

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first indication that, that my heritage had produced something world class. That, you know, like, that was apparent to me. And can you share with us, like one of your favorite artists, or more specifically, Vietnamese artists, that you

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really, yeah, interacted with? Yeah. So in that era, there were a series of artists that were getting commercially well known. So like Hong Viet

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Dung, is, is one. But around that time, I also met a Vietnamese American artists named Phi Phi Oang: P-H-I, P-H-I, O-A-N-H.

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And she's done some amazing things with Vietnamese art, and when I say Vietnamese art, what I mean is that she's, she... I'll give an example. She looked at the history of lacquer, for example.

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And then she started producing just beautiful modern contemporary pieces, using lacquer techniques. And she did a show in— she showed her her work here in Houston, at one point, but she

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lived in Vietnam for a while and in Spain for a while. But I pointed her as, as somebody who's particularly inspiring, her work is amazing. And then there's, there's a friend of mine who is based in Vietnam, whose name I suddenly forgot.

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But I'll get that to you at home. I guess... I can't believe I forgot. Anyway, he's, he's done, he does amazing work, but he does installation pieces, right. So the whole building.

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So he's shown in Houston a couple times actually. Is that UH or Rice? I think he showed at UH one time. And his piece has also been in the Museum of Fine Art Houston.

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He... Is his first name start with Dinh? D-I-N-H. Dinh Le. Yeah, yes. Yeah. Rice.

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Yeah. So he's, he's a friend of mine. Friend or acquaintance. And we met at, actually through Asia Society through a conference there, but he does amazing work. And his, his woven photographs are particularly

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like, stunning. And for me inspirational because a lot of those woven pieces are about Vietnamese culture, and the interaction of that culture and the Vietnam War, and it's just got a lot more meaning as a Vietnamese person.

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Yeah, that's tremendous. And I'm also wondering, with the Vietnamese artists, what do you see that is unique in terms of how they encounter their experiences as first and

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generations— first and second generations? I don't know if I could paint a broad stroke across all the Vietnamese artists. I, you know, as I talked about, Dinh and Phi Phi, I think I can talk about what theirs

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were right off to me. But I don't know if it's possible to do a broad stroke and say all Vietnamese artists, or even most are one way or another, right? As I said, I'm not entrenched

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enough in a movement or society to be able to tell you something smart about it. I'm more like, you know, kind of one on one with these these things. Yeah, I really appreciate your modesty.

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But I really want to say thank you so much for your contribution as a collector and philanthropist in the Asian art scene. Yeah, I guess that's all of my questions. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?

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No, I think what you guys are doing are great. You know, Houston has a, has had for many years a fantastic art scene that I don't know many Houstonians know about it; but for sure, the national art community knows that

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Houston is a pretty strong player in the scene. I mean, I can't tell you how many places I go to, where I go into a really good gallery that's known nationwide or even internationally. And they know Houston, people from

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Houston are really buying the art, you know, so that will identify, "Oh, people from New York or LA and Houston," right? But they're not identifying like, Dallas or San Francisco, things like that. So Houston has got a

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pretty strong collector community. So I'm hoping that these kinds of things can help grow it. Yeah, definitely. And I totally want to thank our collectors for bringing those art to Houston and building actually

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like the collection as philanthropists for Houston as well, show them to the public, which is a great contribution as well. Although I know that you've been identifying that as selfish, but that to me that's totally, yeah, admirable.

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Thank you. Thank you.