Maleonn turns dreams into photographs with his camera
"Whatever he paints becomes reality" — so goes the Chinese children's story of Ma Liang, the boy with the magic brush. Shanghai-based contemporary artist Ma Liang, also known as Maleonn, says he hopes to turn other people's dreams into reality with his camera.
THE BOY WITH THE MAGIC BRUSH
AO Vertical Art Space
Theatricality is an obvious and enduring theme in Maleonn's works. In 2012, his truck-cum-studio travelled to 35 cities across China, where 1,600 people dropped in, put on funky costumes and posed in front of his camera. The result is the series "Studio Mobile", featuring portraits of strangers with dramatic and surreal props.
Maleonn says the project is perhaps his most important since becoming a full-time artist in 2004 after a decade-long career directing television commercials. More than 100 prints from that project, and works from other projects that won international recognition, are exhibited at AO Vertical Art Space.
"It's dramatic, theatrical, and whimsical. It could also be sometimes quite dark," says gallery director Sarah Greene.