Maleonn
Chinese artist Maleonn (aka Ma Liang) is a powerful creative force, and he is most well known for his carefully staged fantastical and theatrical photographs. These images are wholly idiosyncratic and nostalgic; their low saturation levels and vignette compositions infuse the works with a tangible vintage feel. The subjects—often actors—appear with elaborate props and in otherworldly sets, engaging in a range of strange behaviors and situations. Maleonn’s imaginative, far-fetched imagery has been associated with the genre of “steampunk,” in which influences of science fiction, fantasy, and horror are depicted through an old-fashioned lense.
In 2012, Maleonn undertook an ambitious traveling and participatory photography project, Studio Mobile. From February to November of that year, Maleonn visited some 25 Chinese providences and photographed 1,600 volunteer models in a studio on wheels. As he went, he posted the resulting pictures to his account on the Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo.
Maleonn’s work was the subject of a solo show at the Shanghai Art Museum and has been included in group exhibitions throughout the world, notably at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, the DeVos Art Museum at Northern Michigan University, and the Victoria & Albert …
Chinese artist Maleonn (aka Ma Liang) is a powerful creative force, and he is most well known for his carefully staged fantastical and theatrical photographs. These images are wholly idiosyncratic and nostalgic; their low saturation levels and vignette compositions infuse the works with a tangible vintage feel. The subjects—often actors—appear with elaborate props and in otherworldly sets, engaging in a range of strange behaviors and situations. Maleonn’s imaginative, far-fetched imagery has been associated with the genre of “steampunk,” in which influences of science fiction, fantasy, and horror are depicted through an old-fashioned lense.
In 2012, Maleonn undertook an ambitious traveling and participatory photography project, Studio Mobile. From February to November of that year, Maleonn visited some 25 Chinese providences and photographed 1,600 volunteer models in a studio on wheels. As he went, he posted the resulting pictures to his account on the Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo.
Maleonn’s work was the subject of a solo show at the Shanghai Art Museum and has been included in group exhibitions throughout the world, notably at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, the DeVos Art Museum at Northern Michigan University, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Rize Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, Brussels, and Beijing
Art Next Gallery, New York, NY