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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong, © Ma Desheng
Ma Desheng 馬德升
In Deep Thought 沉思
1979, printed 2005
A kneeling man with his hands on the ground occupies the centre of this woodcut print. With his eyes on the ground, the man appears to be totally absorbed by rectangular shapes, which seem to flow towards the foreground. His position is perhaps a reference to the inflow of ideas in China following the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Black dominates this work, a characteristic of Ma Desheng’s prints, which stood in contrast to the bright colours of Chinese propaganda art. Ma is a self-taught artist influenced by the woodcuts of Käthe Kollwitz and Edvard Munch. Many of his prints depict the feelings of depression permeating Chinese society and were published in the underground literary journal Today. After moving to Paris in 1986, Ma resumed working in ink-wash painting, a medium he had first used in his early career in China.
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