inner flow Gallery will present artist Ma Ruocong's new solo exhibition, "The Full Blood," on October 25, 2024. The exhibition will fully showcase the artist's current stage of creation and reflection.
The sacred crimson hue leads to a forbidden path, with altars along the way unfolding life and death, violence, temptation, and fantasy, culminating in a ritual of sacrifice. The Full Blood builds upon Ma’s earlier works, Flesh and Gaze, extending into a new metaphor rooted in personal experience—menstrual blood becomes more intense in moments of love. Blood, while symbolizing the life force, also carries associations of disease, impurity, atonement, and birth. Taboos and desire are intricately entwined throughout this exhibition.
Stray dogs, horses, flowers, shells, and bones are shattered by the artist to form a "new flesh," laying out a battlefield governed purely by natural laws of power dynamics. Paint piled on smooth skin becomes "firework tips," cutting open the truth of humanity's enslavement by animal instincts. The abundance of love intoxicates, and Ma Ruocong’s creations, like a beast from a sensual reservoir, tame violence through intimate desire.
The paintings serve as bedrooms, with the titles acting as keys for the audience. Works such as "女人的狡兔三窟/That Woman Has No Place to Go" and "我甚知她/I Knew Her So Little" feature symmetrical English and Chinese titles, using a confessional narrative that is simultaneously revealing yet elusive. Language, as the most violent human link, plays a crucial role in shaping the artistic discourse.
The exhibition runs until December 1, 2024.
