There may be an unmistakably cinematic high quality to the horses of Chinese language up to date artist Ma Dongmin. Rendered in layered blue hues, his equine figures emerge via mist-like textures and blurred contours, hovering between states. This stress between stillness and launch kinds the conceptual spine of Fireplace Horse – The Decisive Second, a significant exhibition arriving on the Leica Retailer South Seaside Quarter from 4 to 7 June 2026.
Radiant Storm-120X150 (left), Fireplace Horse Surge-150X200 (proper)
Ma Dongmin brings his celebrated Blue Fireplace Horse sequence to Singapore’s Leica Retailer South Seaside Quarter, showcasing the intersection of pictures and portray via themes of movement and emotion. For Leica — whose identification has lengthy been tied to documentary pictures and visuals — the idea is foundational. Offered by Artwork Vault Asia in partnership with Leica Digicam, the exhibition marks the primary oil-on-canvas showcase hosted by Leica in Southeast Asia. His signature “misty” lens serves as each visible type and philosophical place which is described as “a meditation on the ephemeral nature of existence, the transience of youth and the thriller that resides on the coronary heart of all dwelling issues”.
Lunar Flame – 80X90 (left), Sapphire Stillness- 120X150 (proper)
Utilizing a Leica Q digicam, the Beijing-born artist images horses earlier than translating these observations onto canvas. But these works usually are not literal reproductions of captured photographs. As an alternative, they discover what exists simply outdoors the body — the emotional residue of motion and restraint. His horses are symbols as a lot as topics, standing in for concepts of human ambition and transformation. This symbolism feels significantly poignant in 2026, the 12 months of the Fireplace Horse inside the Chinese language zodiac cycle — traditionally related to volatility, power and dramatic change. Ma’s Blue Fireplace Horse assortment leans into this mythology — the animals seem neither wild nor domesticated, present in an unresolved state, charged with stress.
“Blue is the color of the sky, and it aligns with my philosophy,” notes artist Ma Dongmin. “It carries an innate high quality of permanence, whereas my horses seize a cinematic sense of motion and power. My inventive course of begins with observing and photographing horses utilizing a Leica digicam, earlier than translating these moments onto canvas, capturing what I see as a decisive second suspended between stillness and movement”.
The exhibition’s centrepiece, nonetheless, could also be Registered Kiss, a large-scale reinterpretation of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic 1945 {photograph} V-J Day in Occasions Sq.. Reimagined via Ma’s monochromatic blue palette, the work transforms considered one of pictures’s most recognisable moments into one thing extra introspective. The jubilant spontaneity of the unique picture provides method to reminiscence and the reflection of collective emotion.
In some ways, that portray encapsulates the broader thesis of the exhibition which goals to showcase photographs that evolve via reinterpretation. Pictures turns into portray the place the captured second turns into an emotional afterimage. This ambiguity has develop into central to Ma’s worldwide enchantment. A graduate of Beijing’s Central Academy of High quality Arts, the artist has spent a long time growing a visible language influenced as a lot by Japanese philosophical thought as by European painters like Lucian Freud and Gerhard Richter.
Celestial Drift-100X130 (left) Horizon of Desires-100X120 (proper)
His works have appeared on the Venice Biennale, whereas public sale outcomes for his Blue Horse work have constantly climbed into six-figure territory. Main public sale a number of Blue Horse Sequence works have gone below the hammer throughout Beijing Hanhai, Beijing Council and Poly Worldwide, with every commanding outcomes between USD 330,000 and USD 540,000; signalling Ma Dongmin’s rising prominence inside the international up to date artwork market. That positioning is mirrored within the exhibition’s in depth ecosystem of luxurious partnerships spanning automotive, finance and way of life sectors, from Lamborghini to Citibank. At this time, up to date artwork is not being framed solely as cultural capital however as a part of a broader luxurious portfolio technique aimed toward high-net-worth collectors throughout Asia.
Ma’s horses are compelling not as a result of they symbolise wealth or exclusivity, however as a result of they visualise emotional uncertainty in a world more and more outlined by acceleration. Their blurred edges and suspended motion mirror the instability of up to date life itself. Famend up to date artwork critic and curator Yang Wei notes, “The existential situations and psychological states of all individuals are metaphorically represented by Ma Dongmin via the determine of the horse. This touches upon the connection between humanity and nature and much more so, the relationships between folks. It’s completely truthful to say that Ma Dongmin is borrowing the expressions and postures of horses to unfold a panorama of the human world and in addition to excavate the varied psychological worlds of humanity”.
As up to date artwork turns into more and more intertwined with luxurious tradition and funding technique, Ma Dongmin’s work stands aside for its emotional depth. Past public sale outcomes and institutional recognition, the Blue Fireplace Horse sequence resonates as a result of it visualises one thing profoundly human: the stress between management and freedom, stillness and acceleration.
The exhibition brings collectively 23 oil-on-canvas works from Ma’s celebrated Blue Fireplace Horse Assortment 2026, together with new works reminiscent of Twilight Ascension, Radiant Storm, Velvet Thunder and Celestial Pulse. Additionally on view is the landmark canvas Registered Kiss, introduced in Singapore for the primary time.
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