The Gang of Five are “a very famous yet mysterious group of painters,” according to Lê Thuân Uyên, curator of “Gang of Five: Chancing Modern.” Though they are widely known in Vietnam as pioneers of abstraction, their practices are not well understood, and their early works in particular have rarely been shown. Formed in Hanoi in the late 1980s, the group comprises Hồng Việt Dũng, Hà Trí Hiếu, Đặng Xuân Hoà, Trần Lương and Phạm Quang Vinh. (Lương is better known to international audiences for his performances and videos, which have been exhibited extensively in biennials and museums across Asia,