Maleonn
Maleonn
At the center of his work is the spectacular staged fabulist tableaux. His work encompasses many themes but in all his work there is the feeling that Maleonn is a magician conjuring up visions of his imagination. Some works reference childhood memory, lost hopes and dreams and the symbolism of traditional Chinese arts. “Art is mirrors and windows,” Maleonn says, “you see yourself in it, and you see yourself in relation to the outside world.”
In his series, “Portrait of Mephisto”, Maleonn stages his personal interpretation of ‘Mephisto’ in a contemporary context. Mephisto is a demon in German folklore usually portrayed as a negotiator for the devil. The story is about Faust, a scholar, who makes a deal with the devil in order to gain magical powers in exchange for his soul when he dies. These theatrical works are photographed in black and white and printed on watercolor paper before being meticulously hand-painted. The colors are beautifully rendered and demonstrate Maleonn’s skill as a painter. The works are slightly comic and sinister at the same time.
Maleonn recently spent nearly a year travelling around the country in a mobile studio in order to photograph thousands of ordinary people, and post them on a social network. Visiting 35 cities in 25 provinces, he took 1,600 portraits of people dressed in outrageous fancy dress, surrounded by strange props of all shapes and sizes, before posting the snaps on the Chinese version of Twitter.
“I became tired of contemporary art, the system, dealing with critics and curators behind closed doors. I wanted to do something with ordinary people,” Maleonn says.
In his art, Maleonn expresses the visual vocabulary of a younger generation as he explores the transformation of China during the last decade: “In such a ridiculous age, shaped by plastic values, lots of things that are profound and noble are becoming doubtful,” writes Maleonn in an exhibition catalogue, a point he emphasizes in “Days on the Cotton Candy” series.”
If you are in the Bay Area, you can see his photographs in the exhibition Rising Dragon: Contemporary Chinese Photography at the San Jose Museum of Art through June 30.
Monday, April 29, 2013