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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong, © Ma Desheng
Ma Desheng 馬德升
Man and Woman 男與女
1979, printed 2005
In this woodcut print, a nude woman sits with her knees bent and feet flat on the ground, which is sprinkled with dots. Her face is turned upwards, and her hands are clasped over her knees. She leans against the back of a man, whose shoulders, arms, and hands are outlined, emerging as a silhouette. A sweep of white in the background suggests the presence of light. Black dominates the work, a characteristic of Ma’s prints, which stood in contrast to the bright colours of propaganda art produced during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) in China. The depiction of the female nude was still taboo when Ma created this work, shortly after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Ma is a self-taught artist, and the style of his expressive prints was influenced by the woodcuts of Käthe Kollwitz and Edvard Munch. Many of his other 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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