Ma Sibo

The canvases by Ma Sibo show us fragments of intimate landscapes, like windows into the soul. Their evocative power is derived from a de-realization of scraps of daily life that seem transported into a dreamlike and mysterious dimension. A strange mixture of reality and imagination, Ma Sibo’s luminous visions recall Baudelaire’s windows: closed to the outside world but lit from within by a dazzling and vivid candle, revealing the poetry of our dreams and taking on the dreamlike atmosphere of the unreal. His principle references in painting are the great masters of impressionism, for their hazy and imperceptible transitions between shadow and light. Mark Rothko, for his fluidity of colors and the “silence” of his large colored surfaces, and Edward Hopper, for his piercing light and representations of the loneliness of urban life.

Ma’s solo exhibitions include Habitat, de Sarthe Gallery, Beijing, China (2016); There Will be Light, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France (2013); Apparition, Galerie Loft, Paris, France (2012); Les solititudes, Galerie Loft, Paris, France (2010). His work has also been included in group shows around the world, including Don’t Look Back, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Brussels, Belgium (2014); La vie est ailleurs, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand (2011); Fromage et desert, École supérieure des beaux-arts de Nimes, Nimes, France (2006).

Ma Sibo currently lives and works in Beijing, China.

Text courtesy DE SARTHE.